The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) says it is upbeat about making Ghana the preferred investment destination and facilitating the desired linkages between the Ghanaian private sector and that of South Africa (SA).

Chief Executive of the Centre, Mr. Reginald Yofi Grant, told the media at a business-to-business seminar held in Accra that his outfit was poised to promote the country’s competitive advantage and woo investors into the productive sectors of the Ghanaian economy.  The seminar was attended by the Premier of the Gauteng Province in that country, Mr. David Makhura, who led a delegation of senior government officials and captains of industry to Ghana.

Ghana, he indicated, would soon be a world-class business investment destination and “we want to encourage trade by assisting foreign companies to identify new markets for the establishment of their businesses here”.

Areas of interest for the both countries include manufacturing, energy, agriculture, agro-processing, rail and ports infrastructure and tourism among others. South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Madam Lulama Xingwana, said the purpose of the mission to Ghana was to enhance “the already existing bilateral relations between South Africa and Ghana and specifically the Gauteng Province and Greater Accra”.

The visit was also meant to promote intra-Africa trade and to explore trade and investment opportunities by engaging with relevant stakeholders at a forum such as the business seminar. The mission of the investors follows similar engagements between the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) and the GIPC.

The GGDA in February this year led a business delegation to Ghana during which mission the Agency and the GIPC signed a memorandum of understanding. Madam Xingwana noted that the warm and strong bind between the two countries was a demonstration of “our evolving economic partnership”. The South African Envoy encouraged South African businesses to seize upon opportunities that Ghana presents to South Africa for trade and investment.

According to her, “the net effect of any such trade and investment is economic development and poverty alleviation that fundamentally contribute towards realizing intra-Africa trade”.  She called on businesses to see the engagements as building blocks towards stronger partnerships, pointing out “there will be challenges as we go the along; the future of business and economic development in Africa lies in closer cooperation between our countries within the continent; let’s look within the resources we have as partner African countries because we are cut from the same cloth”.

Source: thefinderonline.com

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr. Yofi Grant, has said the upcoming US/Africa Business Summit scheduled for next month  will provide a “great opportunity” for Ghanaian businesses looking forward to trade and business dealings with players in the United States of America (USA) private sector.

According to him, this year’s summit which is being organised by Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), a trade association focused on strengthening commercial relationships between the US and the African continent,  will have “a Ghana-specific agenda through the Doing Business in Ghana seminar”, a special event that will be held to create the right platform for direct interaction and idea sharing.

The annual event comes off from June 10 to 22, 2017 in Washington DC, the capital of the USA

Mr. Grant, who has been instrumental in driving investment into the country to enable him to achieve the $5 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows target into the country by the close of the year, said this in a phone interview on Wednesday, May 18.

He said Ghana was ready for the summit, noting that the Ghanaian delegation to the event would leverage every opportunity that availed itself during the period.

Mr. Grant who used the opportunity to brief the Daily Graphic about the courtesy call on him by the President and CEO of the CCA, Ms. Florizelle Liser, said the Washington body was looking forward to strengthening mutual business interest between the USA and Ghana.

“The CCA is looking forward to facilitate US private investments into Ghana, especially at the small, medium enterprise (SME) level”, she said.

Expectations

At the forum, there will be access to high-level African government representatives.

There will also be opportunities to meet key African heads of state, ministers and decision makers in one place, at one time.

The forum will provide an unparalleled networking with business professionals. This is crucial because networking is the number one reason the summit participants attend each year. In this case, the platform will be created to connect with more than 1000 business decision makers from C-suite to business development.

Attendees will also take part in dynamic sessions on Business in Africa and hear from leading US and African industry experts on best practices for business, trade and investment.

At the forum, it is expected that businesspeople will leverage the platform to amplify their brand.

Rationale

There have been frantic efforts by the US to increase its stake in Africa, hence a call for greater economic engagement. The move has become even more relevant since the African market is changing.

For instance, in the last five years, a combination of factors including fluctuating commodity prices, government policy and unprecedented political events have presented businesses and investors in Africa with significant new challenges, as well as new opportunities.

Meanwhile, simultaneously, US policy towards the continent is shifting under a new administration.

CCA Brief

CCA is a non-profit, membership-based organisation established in 1993 to promote business and investment between the US and the nations of Africa.

It  is the premier American organisation devoted to US-Africa business relations and includes as members more than 180 companies which represent nearly 85 per cent of total US private sector investments in Africa. CCA’s members range from America’s smallest to largest corporations. They represent a diverse pool of industries from more than 20 key sectors, including agribusiness, energy, infrastructure, security, power, health care, telecommunications and finance.

The CCA is a leading source of the most up-to-date information on business across Africa. CCA works closely with governments, multilateral groups and businesses to improve the continent’s trade and investment climate, and to raise Africa’s profile in the US business community.

Most importantly, CCA works with member companies to help them increase their investment in and trade with the nations of Africa. CCA accomplishes these goals through several sector- and country-specific working groups, initiatives, research areas, forums, conferences and advocacy programmes.

Source: graphic.com.gh

The CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant, has said that incentives are what local businesses need and not a protectionist regime to shield them from foreign competition.

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana-Gulf Chamber of Commerce in Accra, on Wednesday, the GIPC boss said globally there are several opportunities that local businesses can take advantage of if they are given the right incentives.

The country, he argued, possesses some of the fundamental requirements needed to move the economy from its present status to a more prosperous and industrious one, like those created in the middle east region such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the rest.

“I have been to Dubai a couple of times and, anytime I return, I am more convinced that whatever happened in Dubai can happen in Ghana –a real transformation of a country that is poised for change. The political will is there… the wherewithal and energy are also present,” he said.

“We should move away from being protectionist to being incentivist. We should incentivise our own people to grow and take advantage of opportunities that emerge globally.”

In the aftermath of Brexit and the emergence of economic nationalism in the US, he said, there is the need for Ghana to form new relationships that will allow it to realise its economic potential.

The Ghana Gulf Chamber, he said, is one of the means by which the country could seek such new partnerships that will help promote economic growth. Apart from engineering such business relationships, Mr. Grant stated that the GIPC is also pushing for reforms that will see the country emerge as one of the great places of doing business.

Such reforms, he explained, are tailored to reduce bottlenecks in routine business processes, which would improve the ease of doing business in the country.

In a speech read on his behalf, President of the Ghana Gulf Chamber of Commerce, Joseph Siaw Agyapong, said the Chamber will seek to put local businesses in contact with each other and with businesses in the gulf region.

Mr. Agyapong said the Chamber has the ambition of becoming the most influential among the various chambers of commerce in the country and would seek to do this by providing strong leadership as well as attracting valuable investments.

“This Chamber will facilitate business relationships between Ghana and the Gulf. The success of this endeavor will be assured by our stellar record and the record that we wish to accomplish, moving forward, by organising events, services, as well as collaborative memberships.”

The Chamber, which is located at the World Trade Center in Accra, comprises of businesses from Ghana, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and Qatar.

Its leadership includes Joseph Siaw Agyapong, President; Albert Ankrah, Executive Director; Kojo Dougan, Vice President; Prince Kofi Hanson, Communications Director; Juliana Kplorfia, Director, Protocol and Strategic Affairs; and Albert Afful, Treasurer.

Source: thebftonline.com

Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) CEO Yofi Grant has dismissed assertions that GIPC only supports foreign companies.

Under the GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865), the Centre is mandated to encourage and promote investments in Ghana, to provide for the creation of an attractive incentive framework and a transparent, predictable and facilitating environment for investments in Ghana. The Centre is there to initiate and support measures that will enhance the investment climate in Ghana for both Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian enterprises.  However, some Ghanaian companies have accused the Centre of having the interest of only foreign companies at heart to the detriment of indigenous companies.

But speaking at the National Policy Summit in Accra on Monday, 15 May, Mr Grant said: “Local investors may also register with the GIPC if they require the incentive that we give for investment. But I inquired before I went to GIPC and I asked, ‘Why is it that our local companies do not want to register with GIPC? Many of them do not want you to know their business so they rather stay in their corner and do their business yet complain that we do not give them incentives.

“Indeed I want to state to the general public that GIPC is taking a new approach to business. We are there as much for the foreign businesses as we are even more for the indigenous investor. We want to grow big businesses indigenously, we want to get our indigenous businesses to also grow, so we will look at you with that eye to ensure that our local businesses also grow and demystify that idea that we are only there for the foreign businesses.”

Source: ghanaweb.com

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is calling on Chinese investors to make Ghana their investment hub in West Africa. According to Yofi Grant, this will diversify the economy as well as create jobs for Ghanaians which will intensify the mutual relationship between the two countries.

He was speaking at the opening of the maiden edition of the China Trade Week held in Accra. The China Trade Week is an event that seeks to give the local community a platform to develop direct trade links with high-end Chinese product manufacturers in the country and also bridge the trade gap between China, Africa and the Middle East.

At the official opening held at Kempinski Hotel, international event director at Middle East International Exhibition, Michelle Meyrick stated that the exhibition is one of the best opportunities for connecting local buyers to the relevant manufacturers in the Chinese industry. “For our first time in Ghana, we are focusing on b2b matching to make sure we are giving the best opportunity of connecting the local buyers to the relevant manufacturers in their industry. We already have over 300 meetings scheduled over the 2-day event.”

“We have launched our free China Trade Week app which is the first event we are using it. The local buyers can log on to the app and see information about all of our exhibitions, chat with them online and set up the onsite meeting with them” she added  The GIPC’s CEO, Yofi Grant added that Ghana is very well positioned in West Africa in mobilizing capital for the sub-regional markets as well as the continent.

“China has positioned itself very well as the factory of the world, Ghana can position itself as a factory of West Africa and Africa. We urge you to bring the investors here to actually invest, build the factories here and we will make the conditions good for them to come and build here in order to create jobs for the people so that they can also create wealth for themselves,” he stated. The two-day exhibition and B2B matching conference has so far brought together reputable manufacturers from china to showcase high quality products that aim at building trade relations with local businesses across a range of sectors including construction, machinery, auto parts, led lighting, medical technology, print, packaging and plastics, hygienic products and many more.

The event is expected to attract more than 10 thousand professionals worldwide to enable them seek new sources of their products and services from the Middle East.

Source: ghanaweb.com

Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta is attributing the change in Ghana’s credit outlook by Fitch as a demonstration of confidence in the current team managing the economy.

Ratings Agency Fitch last Friday, reviewed Ghana’s credit rating outlook from negative to stable explaining that the review was influenced by government’s resolve to stabilise the economy.

The agency was, however, of the view that, government may spend slightly more than what it has projected in the budget, resulting in a deficit of 7.5 percent.

On revenue, Fitch also fears the government may not meet its revenue target of almost GHS45 billion due to the recent tax cuts.

But speaking to the JOYBUSINESS, the Finance Minister said the rating agency would not have done the review if was not convinced that the measures being implemented to reduce the country’s rising debts are sustainable.

Mr. Ofori-Atta was also of the view that, its recent engagements with the rating agencies in the US also contributed to the decision to review the outlook on Ghana’s creditworthiness.

“It essentially reflects what we set out to do, by giving policy clarity, credibility and more importantly transparency in terms of the numbers we are working with.

“The meetings we had in Washington were really positive for because they got to really feel us and get a sense of the mission that we were on,” he said.

He admitted that the questions were intense and interrogative, and the team did well in answering them explaining that running a transparent government is working in their favour.

“We are running a very open governance structure especially at the [Finance] Ministry and that comes through in our discussions,” he noted.

The minister added that government is committed to sticking to the macroeconomic targets set in the budget and implementing policies that would improve the business environment.

The review, in outlook, is more of an indication that Ghana’s B credit ratings, could be moved to an improved position in the next review if government quickly takes steps to reduce its debt and check its expenditure.

Fitch kept Ghana’s rating at B, which is still a warning to investors that lend money to Ghana that the country is in a position where it may struggle to pay its debts on time.

Source:  myjoyonline.com