Afeyo-Markin defends $449m tax waiver for One District One Factory initiative

Ghanaian

Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has refuted claims made by the Minority regarding the government's tax waiver requests for businesses under the One District One Factory initiative.

Despite concerns raised by the Minority about potential corruption and misuse of public funds over the proposed $449 million tax exemptions, Afenyo-Markin defended the initiative during his debate on the State of the Nation

Read full articleAddress on Monday, March 11, 2024.

He clarified that tax waivers are designed to stimulate economic growth rather than cause losses to the state. Afenyo-Markin explained that tax exemptions serve as incentives to attract investments, emphasizing that these exemptions eventually translate into tax credits, benefiting the state in the long run.

"Tax exemptions are used to attract investments, but the NDC is looking at them with a very myopic eye. Let me explain to you that when a government introduces tax exemptions, it is aimed at driving economic growth, and in effect, these tax exemptions become tax credits. It is not for free, so the NDC should not mislead Ghanaians," he stated.

Afenyo-Markin criticized the NDC's understanding of tax exemptions, asserting that the government's approach is focused on fostering economic development and generating long-term benefits for the state.