Ghana is investment destination of choice in Africa – Dr. Bawumia

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has told Canadian investors that Ghana has the best investment environment in Africa for both local and foreign investors.

He said Ghana did not only have stable political and security environment but has a benign legal and regulatory environment that offered the best investment climate on the African Continent.

The Vice President also touted the country’s stable domestic market and macroeconomic stability, which placed it as a favourable investment destination of choice in Africa.

Vice President Bawumia touted Ghana’s economic credentials when he addressed a group of investors at the Canada-Ghana Economic Summit in Vancouver on Monday.

The summit was organised by the Canada-Africa Strategic Investment Group Inc.

Dr. Bawumia was optimistic that the recent economic development in Ghana presented huge opportunities for diverse investment opportunities and urged Canadian investors to double their steps in Ghana.

The Vice President said Ghana provided a safe haven for investment, which was protected under a fair and ‘commercially-aware’ judicial system, ranked 48th out of 126 countries in the World Justice Project’s 2019 Rule of Law Index.

For instance, Ghana is ranked higher than countries like South Africa in the 2019 A.T Kearney Global Services Location Index, a measure of the attractiveness of a location for offshore services.

Ghana has also maintained a consistent position as the second-highest ranked country out of 20 in the Absa/Barclays Africa Group Financial Markets Index for two years running.

More also, Ghana is ranked as the fourth highest out of 25 African Countries in Ernst & Young Africa’s Attractiveness Survey (2017), ahead of Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritius, Rwanda and Nigeria.

According to Dr. Bawumia, Ghana’s large domestic market and the coming into force of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) suggests that the country’s domestic market was no longer confined to West Africa alone.

This, he said, made Ghana the potential capital of Africa’s commercial, trade and investment future.

Ghana is currently hosting the headquarters of several multinational companies, serving over 350 million people in the ECOWAS region.

The multiplier effects of hosting AfCFTA provides an even greater opportunity for businesses to rapidly launch into the rest of Africa from Ghana, Dr. Bawumia noted.

Vice President Bawumia further noted that “successful implementation of AfCTFA would have a combined consumer and business spending of $6.7 trillion by 2030.

Additionally, it would boost manufacturing and industrial development in Africa and raise intra-African trade by 15 to 25 percent or $50 billion to $70 billion by 2040.

Dr. Bawumia was of the conviction that economic transformation complemented by digital platforms would fast-track the country’s development efforts.

He mentioned some ‘soft infrastructure’ rolled out by Government since it assumed office, including the National Identification System, Digital Property Address System, e-Justice System and Mobile Money Interoperability System, which were undertaken in partnership with the private sector.

Mr. Yoofi Grant, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and Dr. Mohammed Awal, the Business Development Minister, took turns to market Ghana to potential investors.

Mr. Yoofi Grant said Ghana had made significant economic strides and sustained path for macro-economic stability.

He mentioned the 17 tax cuts in 2017, 11 percent cumulative reduction in electricity prices and suspension of Import Value-Added Tax of 15 percent on 64 Commodity Groups, to spur investment growth.