[ACCI-CAVIE] Ghana is the 4th most attractive labour market in Sub Saharan Africa with regard to the pharmaceutical industry, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Fitch Solutions, research arm of ratings agency.

This is due to the high urbanization rate and pool of workers available to choose from.

According to the report, the increasing urbanization of many parts of the country and the high female labour force participation rate gives businesses in the pharmaceutical industry options to select different groups of workers.

Furthermore, labour regulations in Ghana are not stringent by regional standards, whilst labour-related taxes are reasonable, but other labour market factors such as cost is viewed as important to pharmaceutical firms seeking to fill in non-scientific roles such as marketing, sales, accounting and aspects of production.

The exemption of pharmaceutical products from VAT and other taxes, the report said, will encourage investments in Sub Sahara Africa’s pharmaceutical industry.

Some tax incentives for pharmaceutical companies in Ghana are “exemption from payment of customs duty on all raw materials and packaging materials for the local production of pharmaceuticals, locally produced pharmaceuticals are zero rated under the Value Added Tax (VAT) law and plastic packaging materials used for the packaging of pharmaceutical products are exempted from payment of the 20% environmental tax on plastic packaging materials.”

Meanwhile, the nation is ranked 5th in terms of the number of science students who graduate annually, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

About 5,000 students graduate annually from the various science universities and health colleges.

While Senegal produces the largest number of science graduates in Sub Saharan Africa, Botswana offers the best labour market in the region.

By Charles Nixon Yeboah