GIPC woos local entrepreneurs

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has earmarked the last quarter of the year to touch base with entrepreneurs and prospective investors in a nationwide investment programme.

GIPC will from September 10 embark on the 2015 edition of the annual Nationwide Investment Outreach programme, hitherto dubbed the Regional Sensitisation Tour, designed to meet the local content requirement of the Centre’s investment promotion mandate.

According to the CEO of GIPC, Mawuena Trebarh, the primary objective is to foster partnerships and other relevant interventions for the Ghanaian business community’s prosperity.

Speaking at the launch of the National Investment Outreach 2015, the CEO of GIPC “invited all businesses, especially those looking to expand their operations, to introduce new ways of executing their business, find alternative financing options and other forms of collaboration, to take note of the schedule and be part of the programme”.

The programme comprises the organisation of regional investment workshops in the 10 regional capitals, visits to selected project sites to obtain first-hand information on projects being implemented by local investors, and sensitise the locals on the Centre’s work.

For this year, the objective is “to identify specific investment opportunities for promotion in each region, and encourage local companies to register with the Centre and disseminate information on benefits and incentives under the GIPC Act”.

The Centre also plans to hold policy discussions on private sector and local small and medium enterprises (SME) growth, as well as undertaking on-the-spot screening of companies for registration and one-on-one discussions with SMEs on pertinent issues being faced in business.

The workshop also “provides the opportunity for GIPC to build the capacity of project owners to package their project proposals into acceptable business plans”, she said.

The outcomes of the workshop are used by GIPC to produce a catalogue of projects or businesses that are seeking partnership or other forms of collaboration for promotion to the investor community, both home and abroad, by the GIPC.

The catalogue serves as promotional material to various global destinations without cost to the project owners or idea-generators.

In 2013, a total of 115 private sector projects were “sourced profiled and promoted”. Out of the 115,74 of them were verified projects (existing businesses) and the remaining 41 were project concepts (ideas not yet actualised).

The year 2014, realised a total of 128 projects spread across Agriculture and Agro-Processing Manufacturing, Services, Tourism, Construction.

It is expected that this year’s event will bring together Ministers, Regional Directors, District and Municipal Chief Executives, Regional Economists, finance officers among others to identify and profile bankable projects in the various regions.