Ghana has cemented its position as the most attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), ahead of neighbouring Nigeria, by attracting FDI commitments to the tune of well over US$ 3.5 billion in 2018. Indeed, the actual FDI figures for the year could be considerably higher since data from the Petroleum Commission, Minerals Commission and the Ghana Free Zones Board, only covers the first three quarters of the year.

It is possible that the Petroleum Commission’s figures could have risen considerably during the last quarter of 2018 due to the intensity of Aker Energy’s exploratory drilling programme during that period which indeed culminated in the announcement of the largest single oil find in the entire West African Gulf of Guinea to date, a few weeks ago.

Full year figures from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the country’s flagship FDI facilitation agency proved that 2017’s record breaking performance was not a fluke. In 2017, the Centre attracted FDI commitments to the tune of US$3,614.07 million, and adding on local counterpart investment, this brought the total investment commitments registered with it to US$3,745.60 million.

Despite this being the highest FDI registered in the 24 year history of the GIPC cynics argued that it was only achieved because of one single investment commitment of over US$2 billion made during the year. However, in 2018, GIPC nearly matched the previous year’s performance, registering US$3,324.42 million in commitments and with local counterpart commitments added on, a total of US$3,540.73 million. Instructively, the highest single investment registered is for US$1,417.58 million and indeed two investments are for over US$1 billion each.

But the level of total investment commitments for 2018 (full year for GIPC but first nine months for the other agencies) at US$3,676.49 million is likely to fall short of the US$6,189.68 million (full year for all for agencies) because of sharp declines by the Petroleum Commission, Minerals Commission and GFZB which only registered commitments during the first three quarters of the year, to the tunes of US$134 million, US$770,000 and US$990,000 respectively, down from 2017’s full year levels of US$493.86 million, US$549.59 million and US$1,400.63 million respectively.

Importantly, commitments generated by GIPC are expected to create 17,924 jobs, up from 13,108 jobs in 2017. For 2018, GIPC attracted commitments to the tune of US$1,417.58 million for the service sector expected to generate 7,780 jobs; US$1,101.87 million for the general trade sector, expected to create 1,687 jobs; US$715.41 million for the manufacturing sector, expected to generate 4,859 jobs; US$137.51 million for export trade expected to generate 217 jobs; US$93.66 million for the building and construction sector expected to generate 259 jobs; US$65.65 million for liaison offices, generating 2,086 jobs; and US$8.91 million for the agricultural sector, to generate 946 jobs.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Yofi Grant, has said that Africa has the potential to be a major trading hub in the world.

“This is a continent that has about 30 per cent of the world resources such as oil, gas, gold, diamond, bauxite, among others, which takes to develop and thus Africa will develop in the coming years”, he said.

Speaking at a breakfast meeting held by the American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana (AMCHAM) with the members of the National Black MBA Association (NBMA) in Accra last Friday, Mr Grant stated that by 2050, Africa could be the largest hub for trading in the world.

He added that measures were being taken to help reposition Ghana to become the leader of economic emancipation of the continent.

“Just as Ghana, some 60 years on, led the path for political emancipation of the continent, Ghana has once again repositioned itself to lead the economic emancipation of the continent,” he said.

Despite all the natural resources the continent was endowed with, he said, it remained one of the meagre continents and that was a wake-up call for Africans to speed up their developing process.

He subsequently commended NBMA for choosing Africa, especially Ghana, to partner the country to ensure growth and development.

“And for me, your coming by to identify that you got to do something for Africa is a natural calling and also a motivation because this is where you are coming from, if Africa makes it the world makes it”, he added.

Overdependence

Mr Grant stated that Africa had depended on other continents for long and it was time to relook the future of Africa and work towards being independent.

“Despite Africa being a rich continent and Ghana being rich in resources, we have depended too much on handouts, after gaining independence, Ghana is still grappling with basic things we should have moved away from,” he said.

He added that Ghana beyond Aid was government’s strategic decision to deal with Ghana’s overdependence moving forward.

“We are probably too comfortable with where we are, which is preventing us from exercising our energies into developing ourselves.

We, therefore, came up with Ghana Beyond Aid to use our own people to bring development to set a pace for Africa to move away from aid to trade ”, he said

Policy initiatives

Mr Grant said that the government was working on new policies to fulfil the objectives set by the government.

He stated that when these policies were successfully implemented Ghana would move from exporting raw materials and resources and come into a value addition production which would help Ghana move away from borrowing to growth.

He added that the government was committed to achieving its Ghana Beyond Aid goals.

Source: graphic.com.gh

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the German-African Business Association (Afrika-Verein) to co-operate with the objective of fostering bilateral trade and investment between Germany and Ghana. Both sides under the MoU will among other things, agree to regularly identify specific projects to be pushed and supported by both parties on business and political levels.

The signing of the MoU was conducted on the sidelines of the third German-African Business Summit (GABS) held from 11th to 13th February 2019, at the Kempinski Hotel Gold City in Accra. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GIPC, Yofi Grant, signed on behalf of the Centre while the CEO of the association, Mr Christoph Kannengiesser, signed on their behalf.

The summit which was centred on providing a platform for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Africa and Germany to explore business opportunities, brought together over 500 German and sub-Saharan African high-ranking business executives and government representatives.

The GABS is Germany’s signature business event in Africa, where top business and government leaders from Germany and Sub-Saharan Africa meet every two years to discuss and promote economic relations between Europe’s largest economy and the fastest-growing region in the world.

This year’s event was put together by the Sub-Saharan Africa Initiative of German Business (SAFRI).  The previous GABS was hosted in Nairobi, Kenya.

The GIPC has so far registered 174 projects from Germany from September 1994 to September 2018 with an estimated project value of $74,996,962.31.The projects are spread in the sectors of agriculture, building and construction, export trading, general trading, liaison, manufacturing, services and tourism.

Mr. Grant in his submission highlighted the purpose of the MoU being a platform to further deepen Ghana’s engagement with Germany and further increase trade and investment for mutual benefits.

 He also mentioned that following the G20 Compact with Africa – Germany Ghana Investors Forum, held in Accra and Berlin in October 2018, the Centre will be undertaking an investment mission to Berlin this year to allow for German companies to meet, network, and partner Ghanaian businesses.

Afrika-Verein is the nationwide, cross-industry foreign trade association of German companies and institutions, interested in economic cooperation with the countries of the African continent. It promotes the exchange between German and African representatives from business and politics and in doing so, commits to a new image of Africa in Germany.

Source: myjoyonline.com

British model and businesswoman, Naomi Campbell has expressed interest to lead a group of investors into the country to scout for business opportunities. This follows a recent discussion between the model and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, GIPC during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC, Yofi Grant, the move when successful will see the model establish a business in the country which can serve other parts of the world.

“She is a very well connected businesswoman, through her I met some investors who are looking at other opportunities to explore in the country and also to put Ghana up on the World map.”

Yofi Grant was hopeful that the move is due to the favourable economic condition created by the government in the last two years.

“I am very hopeful and that is why I say, there is a bright future for every young man in this country looking at how the country is performing on the world stage and the various improvements we have made in our economic indicators” he added.

He made the disclosure in an interview with JoyBusiness after addressing a short ceremony to launch the 4th Ghana CEOs Summit in Accra.

About four hundred business executives and CEOs are expected at the event under the theme ‘Futuristic economy: technology-driven future of business and governance for economic transformation.’

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana CEOs Network, organizers of the event, Ernest De-graft Egyir hinted that the summit will set the pace in the development of the roadmap for solving many of the technological challenges faced by the modern Chief Executive.

“Some questions which the summit seeks to provide answers to include the role of the modern CEO, how can government develop policies to meet the growing demand of the modern economic environment and among others” he noted.

 Source: myjoyonline.com

Talks between the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the Tourism Ministry and a group – mostly top film stars in London, United Kingdom – have progressed steadily aimed at developing a 400 acre film production facility in Accra.

The project is expected to begin this year and will come with first-class film studios to develop and train Ghanaians in the sector as Ghana marks the year of return, an event expected to bring investors and tourists to invest in the economy.

This is part of concerted efforts and policy direction by the GIPC and the Tourism Ministry to showcase Ghana to the international community and is geared towards boosting investment and employment opportunities in the sector.

The move will enable businesses entities and start-ups to leverage on the various business and investment opportunities in the industry. Aside from this, British businesswoman, Naomi Campbell will soon lead a group of investors into the country to explore the vast potentials for establishing businesses, and building the capacity of the youth to identify such opportunities and take advantage of them.

This development follows a recent discussion between Ms. Campbell and the Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC, Yofi Grant during last month’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Speaking to the Goldstreet Business during the launch of the 4th Ghana CEO Summit held in Accra, Mr. Grant said his outfit was determined to ensure that businesses, start-ups and the youth take advantage of the vast upcoming investment and business opportunities. “Tourism was seen as a luxury, but now it’s a lifestyle. When tourists come, they are not just coming to look. They eat, rent rooms, purchase artistic works and show interest in other important things.

All these are investments they are actually putting into the economy. So, the demand is there”, he reiterated. Meanwhile, the redevelopment of Accra Marine Drive Project is expected to commence in earnest to enable tourists and visitors coming to Ghana for the year of return have a feel of Ghana’s culture specifically with regards to the layout, design and facilities put up.

The masterplan of the project has been fused with the culture, modern technologies and infrastructure to express the country’s past through artistic works. One of the places that are expected to have a significant change in setting is the Black Star Square.

The project is estimated to cost around US$1.5 billion which will be privately developed. Developers have already secured funding for the project. The redevelopment will include building first-class hotels, conference and cultural centres along the stretch of beachfront. The project seeks to transform the seafront properties from Osu Christianborg Castle to the Arts Centre into a vibrant business hub.

 Source: Goldstreet Business

When some of the most well-known faces from the African diaspora arrived for a recent vacation in Accra, Ghana, it looked like just another gathering of famous people. Actors including Idris Elba rubbed shoulders with supermodel Naomi Campbell, TV sports presenter Mike Hill, and author Luvvie Ajayi.

Behind this meet-up of box office stars, fashion royalty and top creatives is a focused and ambitious strategy to make Ghana a major tourist destination. The country recently unveiled a 15-year-long tourism plan that seeks to increase the annual number of tourists to Ghana from one million to eight million per year by 2027.

Ghana’s travel industry is projected to raise $8.3 billion a year by 2027, plus associated benefits, according to the plan.

 Star power

VIP guests attended events chaired by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, the architect of the plan to boost tourism and diversify the country’s economy through reaching out to its diaspora, while guests took part in conferences, festivities and trips across the country to discover its unique and sobering heritage.

The primary purpose of the festival was to forge closer ties between Ghana, the African continent and those of African descent living elsewhere.

It’s 400 years since the first African slaves were taken from countries like Ghana to mainland America, marking the start of the trans-Atlantic slave trade route. This timing is based on the first recorded landing of a ship carrying Africans in Virginia in August 1619.

An estimated 75% of slave dungeons on the west coast of Africa were in Ghana — millions of people were taken and transported on ships that departed from Ghanaian ports.

President Akufo-Addo’s Year of Return announcement pointed to Ghana’s tragic legacy as a reason for diaspora descendants to return and learn about this chapter of history. The celebrities who attended the Full Circle Festival were taken on guided tours of the slave dungeons.

“Every person of color needs to get on this pilgrimage,” said actor and co-organizer Boris Kodjoe who is of Ghanaian descent. “They need to experience this journey and get in touch with their emotional heritage, walk through the dungeons and see the ‘door of no return,'” he told CNN.

Marketing rockstar Bozoma Saint John — who has a series of marketing coups like Beyoncé’s halftime Super Bowl show under her belt — worked with Kodjoe, inviting 100 of the most influential members of the African diaspora to party with them at the festival over Christmas and New Year.

Saint John, who works for global media conglomerate Endeavor and previously had high profile roles with Uber and Apple Music, says the project is close to her heart.

“As long as you have melanin and you are seeking a return to Africa, it is a must,” she told CNN.

“I really felt that I wanted to show people the country I know and love. I take it as a personal mission and will use my professional weight to help the mission.”

Saint John says that returning members of the diaspora can expect joy on their trip to Ghana as well as moments of solemnity. Skyscrapers and restaurants feature prominently in her promotional material.

“All the fun things you can do in Nice, Bali, Ibiza, you can do here in Ghana too,” she added.

Year of return

The celebrity-attended Full Circle Festival was the opening act of a broader Year of Return, announced by President Akufo-Addo in September 2018.

Speaking about the year ahead at Washington’s National Press Club Akufo-Addo said Ghana would open its “arms even wider to welcome home our brothers and sisters in what will become a birth right journey home for the global African family.”

The Year of Return includes a music festival, an investment conference targeting diaspora Ghanaians, and the Right to Return initiative, encouraging African-Americans to seek citizenship in Ghana.

This year-long initiative builds on a long tradition of looking outwards.

Ghana, the first sub-Saharan African country to win independence from colonial rule, has a history of pursuing ties with Africans overseas. It dates back to the country’s first President Kwame Nkrumah, whose vision of pan-Africanism included alliances with diaspora communities.

Nkrumah enjoyed warm relations with African-American icons such as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, who both travelled to Ghana to meet him. Writer Maya Angelou spent time in the country after its independence and civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois is buried in Accra.

Ghana has also sought to incentivize diaspora returnees through legislation such as the Right of Abode law of 2000 that allows people of African descent to apply for the right to stay in the country indefinitely.

It was followed by the Joseph Project in 2007 that encouraged Africans in the diaspora to return, officials have compared it to Israel’s Law of Return that allows Jews to become citizens.

These initiatives have had some success. An estimated 3,000 African-Americans had permanently settled in Ghana by 2014.

By the time Saint John is finished with marketing Ghana to the world, she is hopeful it will have knock-on impact across the region and wants to reshape people’s perceptions.

“We are going to use Ghana as a gateway to the rest of the continent,” she said.

“There are beaches in Kenya as well as snow-capped mountains. We need to tell the story of all the amazing opportunities Africa has to offer.”

Source: edition.cnn.com

French multinational automobile manufacturer, Renault, Monday said it is considering the establishment of an assembly plant in Ghana.This brings to four, the number of vehicle manufacturers intending to put up assembly plants in Ghana.

German auto giant, Volkswagen, Japan’s Nissan and China’s Sinotruk hope to establish assembly plants in the country.

Fabrice Cambolibe, the Vice President and Chairman of the Africa-Middle-East-India (AMI) Region at Renault, disclosed this when he called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House in Accra.

He told President Akufo-Addo that Renault had studied keenly the business climate in Ghana adding; “We will see if our capacity to bring our products to this country are marching with your policy and, if it is okay, we will be delighted to do that.”

“I have noticed a lot of values in the country, and they are very important to us. I hope that we will be able to concretize it in a really hard project, not a short-term project, but a long-term project, and if everything is matching, we will come back to you as soon as possible.”

President Akufo-Addo welcomed the news by the French automaker to establish in Ghana, saying it is an indication of the confidence the world has in the country’s economy and the business-friendly policies the Government had instituted over the past two years.

Ghana, he said, with its geographical location and sound economic policies and outlook, was the most ideal country in West Africa to establish an assembly base.

Noting that Ghana had now become the largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment in West Africa, the President said Renault could not have picked a better location to pitch camp.

“We are the second largest economy in West Africa. So there are lots and lots of reasons why Ghana is a well-positioned place for you.

“We are looking upon ourselves as the gateway to West Africa, to a market of some 350 million people, which is scheduled to go up to 500 million people by the year 2030. So we think that it will be a good place for you to make it,” the President said.

Renault was established in 1899. The company produces a wide range of vehicles including cars and vans, trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches and auto rail.

In 2016 Renault was the ninth biggest automaker in the world by production volume. By 2017, the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance had become the world’s biggest seller of light vehicles, bumping Volkswagen AG off the top spot.

 Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, the Renault group is made up of the namesake Renault Marque and subsidiaries, Alpine, Automobile Dacia from Romania, Renault Samsung Motors from South Korea, and AvtoVAZ from Russia.

It has a 43.4 per cent controlling stake in Nissan of Japan, and a 1.55 per cent stake in Daimler AG of Germany (since 2012, Renault manufactures engines for the Daimler’s Mercedes A-Class and B-Class cars).

Renault also owns subsidiaries RCI Banque (automotive financing), Renault Retail Group (automotive distribution) and Motrio (automotive parts). It has various joint ventures including Oyak-Renault (Turkey), Renault Pars (Iran). The French Government owns a 15 per cent share in Renault.

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Ghana and Tunisia have pledged to deepen trade relations and increase business partnership between the two countries for their mutual benefit. The commitment came at the maiden edition of the Ghana-Tunisia Economic Forum, which also served as a platform for Tunisian companies and their Ghanaian partners to explore opportunities in both countries.

Mr Mike Badu-Aboagye, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce (GNCCI), said the forum sought to enhance the bilateral relations between both countries. He said Ghana was open to business as the government was keen to supporting the industrialisation agenda, and that, there was the need to increase trade between Ghana and Tunisia. Mr Carlos Ahenkorah, a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, said government was pursuing a ‘Ghana beyond Aid’ through a robust manufacturing industry, adding that, no country could develop without industrialisation.

Mr Ahenkorah said the Akufo-Addo-led administration’s interest to make Ghana an industrial hub in the region was without compromise, which had resulted in the development of a 10-point industrialisation agenda. He said as part of the agenda, the government was committed to building an industrial park in every district to support investors, who faced challenges with business establishment through land tenure problems. Mr Ahenkorah urged the Tunisian businesses represented at the forum to take advantage of the wide range of business opportunities in the country and increase their presence.

On his part, Mr Hatem Ferjani, the Secretary of State for Tunisia Foreign Affairs in charge of economic diplomacy to Ghana said the reality of the maiden Ghana-Tunisia Economic Forum was a reaffirmation of the existing bilateral relation between the two nations over the past 60 years. Mr Ferjani, said the economic relation between the two nations would largely benefit from the forum, adding that, his country had considered building a direct shipping line from Ghana to Tunisia.

He urged Ghanaian investors to consider investing in Tunisia either through joint corporations or Public-Private Partnerships. Mr Yofi Grant, the CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, took the participants through the many business opportunities available in Ghana, urging them to invest in the country for greater benefit. Mr Grant said Ghana was well positioned to host business entities who were interested in investing in the energy, agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality and tourism sectors.

He said there was the need for the two countries to work together towards bringing mutual benefits to not only Ghana and Tunisia but Africa as a whole.

 Source: ghanaweb.com