The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce -Ghana (AmCham Ghana) and the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC, embarked a on a ten-day investment promotion mission to the United States of America from June 11-20.

The 35 member strong delegation, led by Mr. Yofi Grant, CEO of the GIPC, attended the Corporate Council of Africa’s 11th Biennial US-Africa Business Summit in Washington DC from 13th to 16th June.

During the Summit, the GIPC hosted a Doing Business in Ghana session on the theme: “Ghana, Open for Business; Opportunities and Partnerships” on 15th June to showcase specific investment potentials to high level business leaders and financiers.

A Diaspora Seminar was also hosted by the Centre in collaboration with the Ghana Embassy in Washington on Friday 16th June with the purpose of creating awareness of efforts being made by the government to improve the Ghanaian business environment as well as showcase existing investment potentials.

On the 19th of June, another business session focused on Ghana was held in Philadelphia in collaboration with the US Department of Commerce and Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia. The exclusive session focused on B2Bs and building partnerships with top business executives operating in Philadelphia.

The GIPC organised Investment Promotion Mission to USA had the objective to showcase specific investment potentials in Ghana and support local private sector players in their search for international business partners and deepen growing levels of trade and investment between Ghana and USA.

The USA has between September 1994 to March 2017 registered a total of 345 projects valued at over USD$ 4.5 billion in Ghana. The major sectors of interest of these companies registered with the GIPC are services, manufacturing and tourism.

GIPC stakeholder events and missions are part of the Centre’s strategy to showcase the Ghanaian private sector and introduce them to various local and international business platforms.

In a related development, prior to his departure to the US, CEO of GIPC, Mr. Grant met with key members of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA) as part of the Centre’s effort to gather feedback from its key stakeholders on aspects of the GIPC Act 2013 (Act 865) currently being considered for review.

The meeting, held in a co-operative atmosphere, had the two parties engage in fruitful deliberations on issues that boarded on incentives and support for local businesses.

Mr. Grant, reiterated the President’s words of government’s focus on a Ghana built by Ghanaians for Ghanaians, with mutually beneficial partnerships. He also stated that Ghanaian enterprise must be supported to truly take the commanding heights of the economy, with a bigger focus on value added and production for Ghana to become the business hub of West Africa.

Source: thebftonline.com

The German Ambassador, Mr Christoph Retzlaff says Ghana’ democratic credentials and stable economic growth continued to make it a success story in Africa, and attractive to many foreign partnerships.
“It’s a kind of a model case for many African countries and we see a lot of potential in Ghana, and we think the idea of the G20 Compact with Africa in fostering private business is just matching the priorities of the new government here”, he noted in an interview with the GNA in Accra.

Mr Retzlaff, who was speaking to the GNA on the sideline of a cocktail he hosted for three German Members of Parliament on a visit to the country, said Ghana’s success story qualified it to become one of the only seven countries that would conclude the Compact between Africa and the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
That compact, he explained, seeks to bring more private investment and more private capital to Africa to foster and strengthen private businesses.

He said Ghana had also been selected by Germany, as part of three countries, to sign a bilateral agreement under another compact initiative that would bring additional 100 million euros each year to the country to be used mainly for projects in the renewable energy sector and in vocational training.The other two countries are Tunisia and Cote d’Ivoire.

The Ambassador described the recent visit by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to Germany as very successful, saying that he was part of the team that received the President and his entourage in the Berlin Conference.
He said President Akufo-Addo also had discussions with “heavy weights” from the German Industry to discuss very concrete ideas on how they could work to bring more German investments to Ghana.

Mr Retzlaff said he was looking forward to work with the relevant Ministries in the country to realize Ghana’s potential.
Commenting further on the visit by the German MPS, Mr Retzlaff said it was the first time in many years that a group from German Parliament was visiting Ghana and so the cocktail was being organized to enable the MPs meet and interact with the diverse Ghanaian society from all walks of life.

Among the dignitaries that attended the cocktail included; Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ms Freda Opare Prempeh, Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Professor Emmanuel Asante, Chairman of the Peace Council, as well as other MPs , politicians, business people, media personnel, some artists and members of civil society.

Mr Charles M Huber, Chairman of the Parliamentary group for English and Portuguese-speaking States of West- and Central Africa, led the delegation that included; Ms Walter-Rosenheimer Beate, Vice-chairman of the Parliamentary group and Professor Dr Egon Jüttner, Member of the Parliamentary group.
As part of the two day visit, the three who have since left the country, met with the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Professor Michael Aaron Ocquaye and the Majority and Minority leaders of Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu and Mr Haruna Iddrisu, respectively.

The three also toured the Jamestown, Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, Independence Square, Kofi Annan ICT Centre (KAITC) in Accra, and the Shai Hills and Akosombo Dam.

Source:ghananewsagency.org

The UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) in partnership with Developing Markets Association will be hosting the first UK-Ghana Trade & Investment Forum of 2017 in London, as part of activities to further strengthen the business bond between Ghana and the UK.

The two-day event will be held from June 27 to 28, 2017 in London, and will provide a platform for UKGCC and its members to forge new opportunities within the trade sector.

The forum will afford participants the opportunity to engage with high-ranking Ghanaian government officials, policy-shapers and potential commercial partners.

Attendees will be briefed on the economic and political prospects for Ghana and the UK respectively, followed by plenary sessions focused on the key economic sectors that Ghana wishes to promote.

The CEO of Ghana’s Investment Promotion Centre, Mr. Yofi Grant is expected to give a keynote address at the prestigious event. Confirmed speakers and panelists include CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Kofi Koduah Sarpong, and the Minister of Railway Development, Joe Ghartey.

Mr. Grant said, “This investment and trade forum will leverage on the long-standing experience and traditional business relationships that exist between the UK and Ghana. But more importantly, it will also give a platform to further consolidate new opportunities which have opened up both in Ghana and the UK for enhanced trade and investment”.

”Ghana is ready and open for business and we are very excited about it,” he added.

Mr. Tony Burkson, CEO of the UKGCC, is equally enthused about forum and the potential for the bilateral trade relationship of the future.

“During my time here in Ghana, I have seen the immense opportunities for bilateral trade with the UK. I am very much looking forward to the forum and the initiatives being brought to fruition”.

The UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce continues to be a useful resource and platform for companies looking to build a bigger trade relationship between Ghana and the UK.”

Established in 2016, the UK – Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) was launched to facilitate and promote the ever-increasing need for collaboration between SME’s and large multi-national corporations operating in the UK and Ghana.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has outlined some key initiatives aimed at building capacity of local businesses and improve the investment regime in Ghana.

The CEO of the GIPC, Mr. Yofi Grant believes the plan should enhance the competitiveness of local businesses and eventually turnaround the economic fortunes of the country.

The NPP government has since assumption of office been keen on reforming some systemic challenges confronting the Ghanaian businessman.

The government aims to grow indigenous businesses and create employment to the teeming unemployed youth.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on the new model of the GIPC, its CEO, Yofi Grant maintained that policies such as the one factory per district should attract local investments.

“The one district one factory policy is an amazing engagement that can really tap indigenous capital for economic growth and whilst we look at incentivizing investments,” he stated.

Mr. Grant also disclosed plans of decentralizing the operations of the GIPC across the country to make investments relevant to the specific needs of regions.

“For example each region will have its own sort of mini GIPC that will focus on the potential on how to attract investment into that particular region.”

Already the Finance Minister in this year’s budget outlined some tax cuts and the scrapping of others which have since been implemented.

These are also expected to increase Ghana’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business report.

Although local business in the retail sector have raised concerns over a possible takeover by their foreign counterparts, Mr. Grant explains his outfit will continually engage such businesses and if possible, reconsider the legal framework guiding the operations of such businesses.

“…Maybe we should also look at whether there should be separate regimes for foreign or local investments….As we are reforming and modernizing the economy and competing against countries like Rwanda, Senegal, Kenya, etc., we need to find whether we are beneficial to our medium term growth,” he asserted.

The GIPC boss added, “We as a government believe that that is where economies should go…but we are looking at how to coalesce our thoughts and actions to create a vibrant business environment.”

Source: citifmonline.com

The CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) , Mr. Yofi Grant has described as unacceptable the increasing volume of imported food into the country.

According to him, Ghana imported about 2.2 billion dollars worth of agriculture food that could have easily been produced in the country.

He maintained that the issues possess a challenge to the country and its foreign earnings, since Ghana must rather be seen to export such agriculture produce and not import them.

Speaking at the 2017 edition of the Citi Business Festival, Mr. Grant assured that government and the GIPC are working to reverse the situation.

“Today we are importing approximately 2.2 billion dollars of food when we have more than 8 hectors land lying fallow in the SADA region that can be cultivated. Even if we use half of the 2.2 billion dollars to invest in food programs will have enough” CEO of The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mr. Yofi Grant said at the launch of the Citi Business Festival.

He added that government  will continue to identify individuals interested in agriculture to give them support to increase their output.

“I believe we will go far but obviously we haven’t done it and there are other people who are looking to invest in it, we have been speaking to investors who are particularly interested in entering the agric space at the producer level but there are also people interested in in entering at the processing stage along the value chain and I think that if Africa is to play its part as a credible investment opportunity in the world then governments should make agriculture lead the way,” he suggested

 Source: citibusinessnews.com

Invest in Africa and the Trade and Industry Ministry, last Thursday, organised an event in London to engage investors on the prospect of investments in Ghana.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, highlighted some of government’s initiatives to attract investors to the country.

According to the Deputy Minister, priority industries include aluminium, garment & textiles, industrial salts (alkaline), pharmaceuticals and petrol-chemicals (gas and crude).

Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay further discussed how the government has begun a stimulus programme for companies with the greatest job creation potential by providing them with tax breaks and other monetary incentives to help them stay in business and create more jobs.

The Deputy Minister also called the country’s bureaucratic structures an obstacle to doing free and open business, stating that government already has plans in place to successfully de-bureaucratise the system.

He expressed his delight to be working with Invest in Africa to drive investment and create new opportunities with local SMEs and expressed confidence that the country’s best days are yet to come.

Invest in Africa’s online platform, the African Partner Pool (APP), connects SMEs to large companies helping SMEs access new tenders, training and finance.

Source: thebftonline.com 

As part of government’s desire to make the country the most business-friendly in Africa, a new initiative has been launched to make it possible for businesses to be registered within a day.

The initiative dubbed: “Three-year Business Regulatory Strategy,” is aimed at modernising the quality of Ghana’s legal and regulatory systems to promote faster growth, job creation and economic prosperity.

Prior to this initiative, obtaining a certificate to commence business could take about two weeks.

A research by the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF) noted that there are at least 145 permits, certificates and licensing requirements across various sectors of the Ghanaian business landscape, adding that, out of the 145 permits and licenses required prior to the start of business operations in Ghana, six apply to all businesses regardless of their sector of operation.

However, the reforms introduced by the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) has slashed it drastically to one day.

Commenting on the new initiative, Domtie Afua Sarpong, Assistant Registrar at the RGD, said deliberate steps have been taken by her outfit to ease processes to help facilitate registration of businesses.

“If all the documents are a complete, it will take a day to complete registering your business at the Registrar-General’s Department. At first, it could go up to two weeks before you could get it registered. Now we have made reforms that will make it possible to register your business in a day.

At first the company inspectors were not those who verified the documents. Some other people verified before it had to come back to the company inspectors to do the formal examination; but now the company directors do all straightforward,” she said.

She further stated that the department has outsourced some services in order to ease pressure on the limited staff and address the challenges with the online registration in order to hasten processes.

 “We want to declutter the system and give very good customer service. We launched the online registration in 2015 but we had challenges with the payment system, so it was not effective. But now we have looked for another service provider who has introduced a reliable payment system for us,” she added.

In addition to reducing the number of days it takes to register a business, there has been a reduction in the processing time for the conduct of title search at the Land’s Commission from 14 to 5 days.

Again, there have been a streamlining of transmission of application to the Electricity Company of Ghana for estimates from Regional Director to the Director of Engineering.

Furthermore, the government’s technical partner for the implementation of the Ghana National Single Window project –West Blue Consulting—is currently working with key stakeholders in both the private and public sectors to fast-track trade facilitation processes at the ports with a view to improving the turn-around time at the ports.

Also commenting on the initiative, Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan K. Kyerematen, said government is bent on making the private sector lead its ambitious industrialisation agenda, hence, the launch of the programme.

“Government has ambitious programme for industrialisation, and this is all targeted at making Ghana the most business friendly in Africa. For the private sector to participate in this programme, we need to make the business environment friendly. If the business environment is not supportive of businesses, we cannot achieve our objectives under this initiative.

If you take this exercise (Business Regulatory Reform), we have identified four areas of reform which we discussed today. They are starting a business, getting electricity, dealing with construction permits, and trading across borders. Reforms have already been initiated in these areas and actions are being taken,” he said.

 Source: thebftonline.com

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr. Yofi Grant, has disclosed that his vision is to promote the GIPC as a strategic partner in Ghana’s development drive.

Towards this effort, the agency will be rebranded as a one-stop-shop for investors.

He said his outfit is geared to promote the country’s competitive advantages as a world-class business investment destination and to encourage trade by assisting foreign companies to identify new markets for the establishment of their businesses.

Mr. Grant said this at the Ghana Trade and Investment Business Seminar organized by the Ghana South Africa Business Chamber (GSABC) and hosted by the Trade and Investment KwaZulu – Natal (TIKZN).

He said development of tools will be in line with the strategy of GIPC showcasing the country to potential investors. Adding that it will be in line with the government’s one district, one factory policy.

“Trade relations with our counterparts from South Africa has always been in the deficits with Ghana losing, but as the Centre repositions itself, we will work hard in addressing all these challenges such as the turnaround time of business registration among others”, Mr. Grant noted.

He said areas of key interest to the nation’s development include energy generation, Agric and Agro-processing, tourism among others.

Mr. Zamo Gwala, CEO, Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN), said his outfit is a South African Trade and inward investment promotion agency, established to specifically promote the Province of KwaZulu-Natal as a premier investment destination and to facilitate trade by assisting locally based business enterprises to access international markets.

“The organization is dedicated to this objective and to creating an environment in the Province that is conducive to business development and attractive to investors”, he said.

Madam Lulama Xingwana, South African High Commissioner to Ghana, during the programme, also lauded the efforts of South African businesses in identifying opportunities in Ghana.

She called for further collaboration with Ghanaian businesses as a way of promoting intra-Africa trade as envisaged by the founders of both countries.

Meanwhile, South Africa is one of the world’s most sophisticated emerging markets. The unique combination of a highly developed first world economic infrastructure and the huge emergent market economy has given rise to a strong entrepreneurial and dynamic investment environment.

KwaZulu-Natal is a major role-player in the manufacturing, agricultural, transport and logistics sectors in South Africa. The economic structure in this province is based on a large manufacturing sector, in which growth is driven by the paper products and ferro-alloys industries.

 Source: citifmonline.com