Ghana targets its diaspora for $3 billion in investments

Ghana is targeting its diaspora to raise $3 billion in funding for economic development, said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

The West African nation will structure an investment vehicle to offer better rates than what depositors typically can earn in countries such as the U.S., Ofori-Atta told reporters Friday in the capital, Accra.

The ministry is in talks with the central bank about the proposal’s details and plans to launch the program before the end of 2020, he said.

The funding will be used to build infrastructure and develop the agriculture and tourism industries, said Ofori-Atta.

President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government is seeking to boost development and accelerate growth in the world’s second-biggest cocoa grower and Africa’s largest gold producer ahead of elections scheduled for December.

The country’s 2020 budget allows for $3 billion in fresh offshore debt, including a possible sale of Eurobonds.