Ghana is model business destination in West Africa

Accra, June 12, GNA - A French private business delegation on a three-day working visit to Ghana on Wednesday declared its intention to do more business in Ghana, saying Ghana is by far a model business destination in the West African sub-region.

Mr. Patrick Lucas, President of the Movement of French Enterprises (MEDEF) Africa, said the 800,000 enterprises had observed the stability and consistent growth of the Ghanaian economy over the past few years with admiration and had decided to increase its participation in the country's success story.

Currently, there are 60 French business establishments in Ghana and France is 11th on the list of international investors in Ghana, but fifth on the list of Ghana's overseas clients.

"We see the stability and growing economy of Ghana and we have decided to do better in terms of investment in this country," he told journalists.

Mr. Lucas is at the head of a delegation that comprises top executives of various sectors including energy, electricity, agriculture, information and communication technology, packaging, insurance, shipping, telecommunications, banking, water, transport, engineering and public works.

The delegation is in Ghana to look for more investment opportunities in their respect sectors. They paid a similar visit to Cote d'Ivoire before coming to Ghana.

In Ghana they have held separate meetings with President John Agyekum Kufuor, Minister of Finance, Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Paul Acquah and the Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mr. Robert Ahumkah-Linsey to discuss specific areas of economic relations and investment. They would sign a memorandum of understanding with the Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF) that would bring technical assistance and training in the areas of handling the issue of employment.

Mr. Lucas noted that Ghana was on top of the list of countries that the French private sector wanted to do more business with, saying, "we want to be a major player in this country".

He noted that commercial flows between France and Ghana increased by 25 per cent last year alone, which was an indication of growing trade between the two countries.

"We intend to capitalise on that and participate even deeper in your economy to ensure that our score on your investment sheet will rise from 11th to a better place soon," he said. Mr. Pierre Jacquemot, the French Ambassador, noted that France was a major sponsor of Ghana's National Identification System (NIS), with a sum of US$30 million, adding that, a consortium of five French companies would by next month sign a big contract with the Ghana government to invest in Ghana's electricity sector.

Touching on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Mr Jacquemot said the problem with the EPA was poor communication on the part of the EU, adding that, the EPA was not going to lead to loss of revenue to less developed countries (LDCs) as widely claimed by its critics. Mr Philippe Gautier, Head of Africa, Europe Department of MEDEF, said there was poor communication on the EPA, pointing out that trade issues arising from the EPA were based on World Trade Organisation (WTO) directives and not the EPA itself.

"As private business in France we fully support the EPA because years of billions of dollars of grants to less developed countries based on Lome and Cotonou agreements have proved ineffective but the EPA, which allows imports from LDCs (Least Developed Countries) to come to the EU on tariff-free basis, promises to serve a better purpose," he said. 12 June 08