African Leaders Urged to Invest in Fintech As Real Estate Sector Goes Remote Domestic tourism: Stakeholders demand reduction of taxes and levies

The Pro Vice Chancellor of UPSA, Prof. Mensah Mawutor, has urged African leaders to invest in fintech to drive rapid transformation and growth on the continent.

According to him, a deliberate investment in fintech would foster collaboration among diverse sectors of Africa’s economy, leading to an increase in job creation.

Speaking at the end of the three-day Africa Real Estate Conference and Expo themed ‘Ideas In To Action, Proptech and Fintech’, Prof. Mawutor stressed on the importance of African leaders working together.

”We need government to support when it comes to technology and taxation. We need support for the youth entering into this industry, there is the need for successive government to assist them,” Prof Mawutor said.

The recently concluded Africa Real Estate Conference and Expo brought together industry players worldwide to explore cutting-edge Proptech and Fintech solutions poised to revolutionise the housing and real estate sectors globally.

One of the highlights of the conference was the launch of a Proptech and Fintech platform to enable investors to remotely own and manage real estate businesses from anywhere on the planet.

According to Kevin Brown, Vice President of the National Association of Realtors, this technology will enhance efficiency for real estate agents and facilitate smoother transactions.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture and the Ghana Tourism Authority are hopeful that the Ministry of Finance will consider providing tax reliefs in the mid-year budget review for operators in the sector following a paper they presented on the issue.

According to the two entities, poised to make tourism the number one GDP earner in the country, they believe a flat tax rate regime will be the way to go in maintaining and sustaining gains made in the tourism sector over the years.

In an interview with Citi News on the sidelines of the 2024 first-quarter Public-Private Partnership Forum to help bridge the funding gaps for SMEs in the tourism and hospitality sector in Koforidua, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyemang indicated that the tourism sector has made some good strides despite prevailing challenges.

“Looking at the data that we have, we can say

“I think the impact of Proptech and Fintech is amazing. It would help in efficiency, challenges with time, communication, business transactions and distances. It is going to help revolutionise businesses,” Mr Brown said.

Also speaking at the event was the CEO of Ghana Real Estate Professionals Association (GREPA), Victoria Osei Sampah.

She emphasised the user-friendly nature of the new LMS Xchange device.

The device, she noted, provides real estate that we have made a very strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic tourism moved from about 900,000 in 2022 to about 1.4 million in 2023, and international arrivals ended 2023 at 1.140 million, which compares favourably to the 2019 figure, which was the Year of Return.

“We have seen some resilience and growth, and we have seen that we are making some strides, but we cannot do it all alone, and we need the issue of the multiplicity of levies and taxes paid to various agencies to be addressed. So, we have presented a paper to the Ministry of Finance, and we are hoping that those taxes and levies will be addressed in the Mid-year Budget.”

Mr. Agyemang, touching on the theme, “Financial Empowerment for the Tourism and Hospitality Sector,” said a flat tax rate regime would be beneficial to the tourism sector if approved by the government. agents with comprehensive data and streamlines transactions while connecting them with clients locally and globally.

“Sign up for the new Xchange LMS today and unlock the full potential for your property portfolio,” she added.

Among the showcased innovations were advanced property management platforms, digital mortgage solutions, and blockchain-based transaction systems, all aimed at empowering stakeholders and catalyzing development.