The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has told investors and business leaders from the United Kingdom that Ghana is the ideal place in the West African Region, and on the Continent, to invest and conduct business.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “Ghana is a haven of peace, security and stability, a country where the principles of democratic accountability are now firmly entrenched in its body politic, and where the separation of powers is real, to promote accountable governance.”
Delivering the keynote address at the 2nd edition of the UK-Ghana Investment Summit, organized by the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, on Tuesday, 17th April, 2018, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that his government is keen on establishing a business-friendly economy to attract foreign direct investments to exploit Ghana’s great potential on mutually satisfactory terms.
Stressing that investments are protected in fact and in law in Ghana, the President assured that “the rule of law in Ghana is not a slogan, but an operating principle of state development. We want to participate in the global market place, not on the basis of the exports of raw materials, but on the basis of things we make.”
He continued, “We want to bring greater dignity to the lives of millions of people in Ghana. We want to build a Ghana Beyond Aid. I believe very strongly that Ghana is on the cusp of a new, bold beginning, which will repudiate the recent culture of failure.”
Private sector key
President Akufo-Addo indicated that his Government is of the firm conviction that the role of the private sector in the development of our national economy is crucial, adding that “it is the very essence of our economic philosophy, and has been so for 70 odd years.”
In furtherance of this, he stated that over the past 15 months in office, his administration has set about putting in place the measures needed to reduce the cost of doing business and improve the business environment in Ghana.
The President noted that “our actions have resulted in the growing stability of the macro-economy and the cedi, reduction in inflation, and an abolition of nuisance taxes whose aim is to shift the focus of the economy from taxation to production.”
The “effective economic policies” put in place, he said, have ensured that the fiscal deficit, which stood at 9.5% at the end of 2016, has been reduced to 5.6% at the end of 2017, and is projected to go down to 4.5% in 2018.
Inflation, the President added, has declined from 15.6% at the end of 2016 to 10.4% at the end of March this year, and is expected to decline even further to an end-of-year single digit target of 8.9%; with economic growth increasing from 3.6% in 2016 to 8.5% in 2017.
The President stressed that “as a result of appropriate policy, and the normalisation of the power situation in Ghana, these interventions have also led to the revival of Ghanaian industry, from a growth rate of negative 0.5% in 2016 to 17.7% in 2017. Interest rates are declining, and we are now witnessing a more stable cedi, our national currency. Our macro-economy is growing stronger.”
At the same time, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that Government has implemented specific measures which are leading Ghana and her economy into the new digital age.
These, he said, include the introduction of an e-business registration system, a paperless port clearance system, a digital addressing system, a mobile interoperability system, and a national identification card system, all of which are designed to formalise the Ghanaian economy, reduce the cost of doing business, and facilitate interaction between businesses and their clients, particularly in a technology-driven era, where connectivity through digital services is an important element in achieving competitiveness.
Infrastructural Development
A key challenge of Ghana’s economy, like many other economies in Africa, the President said, is its infrastructural deficit.
He told the gathering that Ghana is embarking on an aggressive public-private-partnership programme to attract investment in the development of both the country’s road and railway infrastructure.
“We are hopeful that, with solid private sector participation, we can develop a modern railway network with strong production centre linkages and with the potential to connect us to our neighbours to the north, i.e. Burkina Faso, to the west, i.e. Cote d’Ivoire, and to the east, i.e. Togo. We believe that this is an area where British technology and expertise would be very welcome,” he said.
He added that “there are several projects in roads, water transport, industry, manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum and gas, renewable energy, the exploitation of our mineral wealth of bauxite, iron ore and gold, and the ICT sector, amongst others, which are being structured to attract private sector financing.”
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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When we steal the nations cash, we sent to foreign lands to save. When we need work, we go back to the same foreign lands and banks to come and invest with our own stolen money. Please let support our own companies oo. @ @ME....I 100% support you... I believed in Ghana...
#Let support KANTANKA AUTOMOBILE COMPANY# We should not let KAC COLLAPSE, out of one car company, many companies will spring up. Let stopped the importation of foreign made cars which are available now - starting from our government appointees... South Korea is closer to Japan than any country in the world but it's hardly to find Japanese made cars on Koreans roads...I did this survey myself on a busy (Busan or Pusan) in Korea.. Now Koreans cars are rocking shoulders with Japanese, American, etc cars... Let start to patronised Kantanka cars...I bet you, let give ourselves 5 years....they will pass some of the world's leading car companies... I believed in Ghana... Yes we can....
akuffu addo must get ghana people food to eat and jobs for the youth and collect all stolen monies from n,d,c executives and stop the talking, ghana people are starving and hungry, note, nana addo must go to the n,p,p part head quarters and tell them why head had 49% instead of 53%,in the latest poll survey. n.p.p are waiting for him,gh pp
How many investments have our leaders themselves made in Ghana. We are always looking for someone to come and build our country for us. You put all your monies in banks outside and expect someone to bring his or her money and invest in your country. Our leaders should practice what they say and invest in this country themselves. Japan was built by Japanese, Britain was built by British and Ghana must be built by Ghanaians or else we will be "beggers" in our own country.
you know well this is not true, put your lazy men to work