Ghana remains an extremely favourable venue for investors - Dr Ankrah

Ghana remains “an extremely favourable venue for investors” except that serious attention has to be paid to investment-killers like land permit bottlenecks, red-tapeism and corruption, Dr. Sam Ankrah, Chief Executive Officer of Africa Investment Group, has said.

Asked by the B&FT whether he thinks the country’s investment climate is favourable to investors, Dr Ankrah said: “Ghana remains an enduring and resolute economy in spite of recent crisis pertaining to electricity and the slump in commodity prices.”

The country’s political stability, he said, is “coveted by investors,” especially in the areas of agriculture, financial services and real estate, adding that recent reports that trade with China rose to US$6.6 billion in 2015, an 18% year on year growth, is good news and must be tilted more to Ghana’s favour, since the country is “commodity and China disposed.”

With improved cocoa output and a measure of stability in crude oil prices, GDP should register some gains, and boost investor confidence, he said.

“Crude Oil is an important proponent to the economy and with prices currently stable, Ghana remains an extremely favourable venue for investors,” Dr. Ankrah, whose company specialises in capital raising, asset management, direct investment and investment banking, said.

He, however, expressed concern about attitudinal issues that tend to put off investors, saying: “It can be very challenging for investors, especially foreign investors setting up in Ghana. Every office or agency you walk into there is an official price and an unofficial price…All these can be very difficult and confusing, especially to the foreign investor.”

Good governance and transparency, he said, are paramount along with a long term vision.

“We need to know which direction we are heading as a country. We need to move from being mainly a raw material producing country to an industrialised economy. North America and Europe are getting tied up and this presents our continent with a great window to develop and alleviate poverty. But this requires deliberate policies and good fiscal governance to attract investment,” he said.

“All businesses that are challenged or will be challenged will have unique problems but in terms of macro-challenges that we may face, proper capital adequacy standards should be instituted not only for financial companies but across every industry to weather challenges,” he said.

To ensure well-intentioned investments are not short-lived, and ensure scarce funds are put to their best use, Dr. Ankrah also called for sufficient research both on the part of investors and government.

The investor community, as well as government, he said stand to reap enormous benefits if they prioritise research as it is the surest way to avoid pitfalls in investments.

“It is synonymous to the common saying, ‘think before speaking,’ and thought requires research, deliberation, open mind, and a vision. Similarly, investments require the same principles,” he said.

“Research engenders the generation of new ideas, efficiency and better productivity. Take the agriculture sector for instance; It is through research that better farming practices are adopted which does not only have the aforementioned benefits but positively impacts safety and environmental issues,” he said.