The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) Sunday selected Ghana as the host country for the Secretariat of the African Continental (AfCFTA) Free Trade Area. The decision was announced at the 12th AU Extraordinary Summit held in Niamey, Niger, after Ghana beat-off competition from Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Senegal.

Primarily, the Secretariat is charged with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which has been ratified by 25 member states. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his acceptance speech during the closing session of the Summit, thanked the Assembly for the decision, stating that “it is a privilege that, for the first time in our nation’s history, we have the responsibility of hosting an important pan-African institution”.

 He expressed his gratitude to President Macky Sall of Senegal for stepping down Senegal’s candidature in favour of Ghana, and acknowledged also similar gestures of solidarity from the leaders of Egypt and Ethiopia.

President Akufo-Addo applauded member states that have deposited their instruments of ratification at the AU Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, and praised Nigeria’s decision to sign-up to the Agreement.  “The adhesion of Nigeria to the Free Trade Area has enhanced considerably its prospects of success,” he said.  With the AfCFTA now the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation, it will cover a market of 1.2 billion people, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion, across the fifty-four (54) Member States of the African Union that have signed up to the Agreement.

“We have, today, taken very important steps towards working with a common voice and a common purpose to exploit the abundant wealth and resources of our great continent for the benefit of all our peoples. Indeed, the ‘Africa We Want’ is achievable,” the President said.  President Akufo-Addo assured his colleague Heads of State that Ghana would put all the requisite facilities at the disposal of the Secretariat to ensure it operated as a world-class organisation.

In addition, and in pursuant to the Statutes of the AU Commission, he indicated that the Secretariat shall enjoy the privileges and immunities stipulated in the OAU General Convention on Privileges and Immunities, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities, and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the Vienna Convention between States and International Organisations or between International Organisations.

The President urged the Assembly to direct the AU Commission to prepare and execute a host-country agreement in accordance with the Executive Council Decision EX.CL/195(VII) Rev.1 of July 2005 on hosting AU Organs; and hold consultations with Ghana and key stakeholders to prepare the statutes of the AfCFTA Secretariat with a view toward providing a report for the consideration of the Council of Ministers of Trade.

He said Ghana is ready to donate US$10 million to the African Union to support the operationalisation of the Secretariat, adding that an inter-Ministerial Committee of his government had been set up to work with the AU Commission towards that end.  President Akufo-Addo also called on pan-African institutions such as the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and other key stakeholders, including Africa’s allies, to support the establishment of the Secretariat.

“I am determined to do whatever I can to guarantee the smooth take-off of the Secretariat, and help make sure that it turns out to be a world-class institution, which will become the pride and joy of all Africans. We owe it to generations unborn to ensure that the biggest trading bloc on the globe, whose outcomes will be rewarding to all, and which will assist in attaining the “Africa We Want”, does not falter, ” he said.

Source: Ghanaweb

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malta Enterprise, Malta’s economic development agency, tasked with attracting new foreign direct investment as well as facilitating the growth of existing operations, on 24th June 2019. The MoU empowers both parties to set up a strategic think-tank composed of officers from both agencies and partnered stakeholders who will devise a three (3) year strategy covering areas of mutual interest.

The Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, Mr Yofi Grant signed on behalf of GIPC while Mr. Micheal Grech, the Director of Malta Enterprise signed on behalf of his agency. Under the MoU, GIPC and Malta Enterprise will collaborate in setting up information sharing mechanisms by regularly exchanging information on economic and trade updates, laws and regulations, policy measures, industrial standards and trends, market analysis reports, exhibitions and forums, trade leads as well as investment projects in Ghana and Malta.

They will also organize business delegations related to trade and or investment to the country of either party as well as support and assist visiting business delegations organized by the other party. Both parties have agreed to co-host various events including economic and trade policy dialogues between government agencies and business delegations in both countries among others. The signing of the MoU comes following the recent State Visit to Malta on 26th March 2019 by His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, where he held bilateral talks with his Maltese counterpart at the time, Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

The Maltese president was one of the first foreign leaders to pay an official visit to Ghana, under the current government administration, on 26th July, 2017.  During his visit, President Akufo-Addo urged Maltese companies to take advantage of the new impetus given to Ghana-Malta relations by the reciprocal visits and invest in Ghana. This clarion call saw a high-level Maltese business delegation visit the country from 23rd to 27th June 2019, to explore business and investment opportunities in Ghana.

The delegation included the Coordinator of Business Development of Malta Enterprise, Mr Cain Grech; the Chief Executive Officer of Trade Malta, Mr Anton Buttigieg; the Maltese Ambassador to African Union, Mr Ronald Micallef; the Director, Scientific and Regulatory Operations of the Medicines Authority of Malta, Mr Annalise Attard; and the Head of Transport Operations of Transport Malta, Mr Mark Caruana Arena.

The delegation was led by the Maltese High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Jean Claude Galea Mallia.  The visiting delegation met with various government ministries, agencies and departments as well as Ghanaian private sector to explore opportunities for cooperation in trade and investments.

Highlighting some of the reasons for the visit, Mr Mallia said the relationship between Ghana and Malta had transformed amicably with the signing of bilateral treaties including a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) to improve trade and investment between the two countries.

He said the Maltese government also considered Ghana as a strategic partner in Africa especially at the time where Ghana was pushing to export more than import. He also mentioned that Malta intends to collaborate with Ghana in the areas of transportation, education, trade, health among other sectors adding “we are not here for exploratory reasons, we are here to get things done”.

The Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, Mr Yofi Grant, welcomed the proposed projects discussed with the delegation adding that Ghana was open to finding strategic partners and investors to grow its economy and for mutual benefit.  “Our country is in the centre of the world, which gives you easy access to other African markets including ECOWAS.

We are a politically stable country, and take great pride in being the most peaceful within the West African sub region”.

Source: GIPC 

As a premium partner for the 3rd edition of the China Trade Week (CTW) Ghana 2019, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) organized the Ghana China Investment Forum on 20^th June 2019 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

Key speakers and panelists at the event were Mr. Li Wei, Managing Director of Keda Ghana Ceramics Company Limited, Hon. Gifty Ohene-Konadu, National Coordinator of One District One Factory (1D1F) Secretariat, Mr. Kwame Antwi-Agyei, Technical Adviser of One District One Factory (1D1F) Secretariat, Mr. Tang Hong, President for Ghana Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Chai Zhinjin, Economic and Commercial Counsellor at Embassy of China and Mr. Yofi Grant, CEO of GIPC.

Mr. Yofi Grant, in his welcome address, gave a brief history on the relations between Ghana and China and expressed pleasure on behalf of the GIPC for the opportunity to add its voice and efforts to the China Trade Week. He indicated that through a signed MoU and Cooperation agreement between the GIPC and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) two years ago, limitless opportunities have been opened to the Centre and Ghana.

Mr. Grant further revealed that through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) China was looking outward and connecting a population of 4.4 Billion people covering over 70 countries through investments and trade.  He advised that with China as Ghana’s biggest trade and investment partner, it was paramount that the country positioned itself strategically to take advantage of the BRI.

Touting Ghana’s political stability, favourable macro-economic indicators and growth trajectory, the CEO of GIPC exhibited Ghana as one of the best investment destinations on the continent. He further highlighted the importance of Ghana moving from a raw material exporting economy to one of value addition and industrialization by sighting the chocolate industry as an example. According to Mr. Grant, although Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are responsible for approximately 67% of global cocoa beans supply annually, both countries together, only receive up to 5.5% of the over US$100 Billion industry value per year, due to very little value addition.

Mr. Antwi-Agyei introduced the 1D1F initiative as government’s strategy to industrialize Ghana’s economy with a bottom-up approach, adding the President’s belief that when rural poverty is realistically addressed and the rural economy transformed into the mainstream economy, there would be enormous benefits to both the populace and the economy.

After explaining the eligibility criteria and indicators that qualify a project to be approved under the initiative, Mr. Antwi-Agyei mentioned some of the many incentives available to 1D1F projects including a 5-year holiday on corporate tax and certain tax exemptions on plants, machinery and equipment or parts.

He further explained that, the Ministry of Finance shall direct Ghana Revenue Authority to undertake assessment, on individual merit, amount of duties to be waived for each specific 1D1F approved factory and submitted to Parliament for consideration and approval in accordance with Article 174(2) of the Constitution. Some of these incentives, he pointed out, overlapped with those advertised by the GIPC and investors would be eligible to enjoy the incentives under both agencies.

Mr. Li Wei – Managing Director, Keda (Ghana) Ceramics Co. Limited commenced by expressing appreciation for Keda having been selected for this showcase and proceeded to give a brief history on the company and its parent group, Sunda International, which is headquartered in Guangzhou, China with branches mainly in Africa and South America, including Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal etc. According to him, Sunda Ghana has a washing powder factory, a hardware factory, a ceramics tile factory and a baby diapers factory with a total investment of more than USD$100 Million, which represented the heaviest of Sunda’s investments outside China.

As a strategic investor, having invested over US$50 Million, Mr. Li said Keda was enjoying the exemption on import customs duty and VAT of all the equipment, plant and building materials for their factory. He praised the GIPC, Ministry of Trade & Industry, the Western Regional Coordinating Council and local assemblies for their immense support in liaising with relevant stakeholders on Keda’s behalf and facilitating the acquisitions of all the necessary permits.

Mr. Li explained that about 95% of their raw materials are purchased locally in Ghana for the tiles factory and all the products are sold through local agents and distributors (majority of who have been Keda’s partners from the onset), who receive regular technical and capacity building training sessions to ensure the highest of standards in their operations. He revealed that Keda continually creates programs, such as the annual distributor’s conference to reward, advice, and aid their local partners, which have helped strengthen Keda’s partnership and relationship with them.

The Ghana- China Investment Forum was held to promote Ghana-China trade and investment relations.

Source: GIPC