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President John Mahama has assured the business community of the government’s commitment to ensure transparency, policy predictability and a friendly environment for their activities to thrive in the country.
He said the measures had become necessary to “restore confidence in our public procurement system, enforce contract sanctity and protect investor rights under both domestic and international legal regimes".
The President mentioned five strategic areas where businesses, particularly those from EU countries could invest in.
They are agro-industrial zones - cocoa, cashew, spices, ginger and vegetables; renewable energy and green parks; pharmaceutical industry; digital infrastructure innovation and transport connectivity.
He said those areas were aligned with the government’s policies, particularly the 24-hour economy designed to incentivise production in the agriculture, energy, skills development and other sectors.
The President, therefore, said prioritising investment in those areas would help to build a resilient and dynamic economy that created jobs, added value to the country’s natural resources and empowered small-scale and medium enterprises to scale up.
President Mahama was speaking at the opening session of the Third Ghana-EU Business Forum in Accra yesterday.
The two-day event is to, among other objectives, enable participants from EU member states and the private sector to have dialogue with the government on its investment agenda to foster confidence and commitment to a stronger and sustainable Ghana-EU partnership.
It was on the theme: "Deepening the Ghana – EU cooperation on trade and investment in non-traditional value chains under the EU Global Gateway Strategy."
The President described the forum as timely, as it had provided a unique opportunity to unlock the synergy between EU's capital and Ghana’s rich natural resource potential.
"Let us use this business platform to launch new partnerships that will create decent jobs and transform industries.
This government stands ready to foster partnerships," he said.
The Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said that the government was poised to make its reset agenda reflect in improved business environment.
There was also the launch of some intervention programmes the EU was implementing to bolster the country’s economy.
One of such projects is the Better Farming initiative, a €19.5 million fund co-funded by France and implemented by the French Development Agency (AFD) in northern Ghana to boost transition towards a sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.
The initiative focuses on shea, soya, vegetables and beekeeping value chains in the Northern, Upper West, Upper East, Savannah and North East regions.
There is also a Green, Digital and Inclusive Private Sector Development meant to foster a greener, digitalised and inclusive private sector - creative industries, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
The €17.3M project, co-funded by the Netherlands and France, is focussing on northern Ghana (Tamale).
Another project that was unveiled was the Team Europe Initiative – Investing in Young Businesses in Africa (IYBA) that would support early-stage businesses and young entrepreneurs, particularly women, with financial and technical resources.
The project covers nine African countries with €4 billion funding for sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana.
An agreement was also signed for The AgriFI – Ghana Country Window project, meant to strengthen agribusiness value chains, establish six fulfilment centres (aggregation, quality control, logistics), and expand digital platforms with €2.23 million loan through EU and EDFI Management Company for Complete Farmer (agritech firm).
The EU Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly, said the forum was a critical initiative as it would strengthen partnerships that would help to unlock opportunities for job creation, economic growth and sustainable development.
"We believe in Ghana, and we have heard the President say Ghana is ready for business again.
We have a shared vision in what we can do together to help the talented youth of Ghana," he said.
"This forum is a gesture that shows that we believe in this partnership for our mutual benefit and we want to nurture it," the ambassador added.
For her part, the Deputy Director-General of the EU Commission, Myriam Ferran, said the commission was looking forward to a win-win situation through the promotion of a common economic development with focus on job creation.
