Ghana to host African World Business Congress

Accra, Oct 13, GNA - Ghana would be hosting the second African World Business Congress, a one stop event for investors scheduled for November 6 to 9, this year in Accra with the aim of strengthening the integration process of the sub-region and of the whole continent. The Congress, being organised by the African Business Roundtable, (ABR), an organisation devoted to promoting the continent as an ideal and diverse investment destination, is expected to be inaugurated by President John Agyekum Kufuor.

At a media briefing on Thursday, the Vice President of ABR, Mr Goodie Ibru said the congress follows a first one held in Dakar, Senegal, and that over 500 participants from over 40 countries would participate in the programme.

He said congress sessions would be devoted to practical information on how to do business in Africa with topics including tax, customs, risk management, finance and law.

Africa's leading export agencies and companies and financial institutions will also be present at the event to attract new buyers and market to their products.

Mr Ibru mentioned other topics that would be treated as infrastructure, telecommunications and IT, energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, transport and agriculture, all against the backdrop of improved regional integration and attracting private investment. He said the congress would run along an annual general meeting of the ABR, which would be presided by its Executive President, Alhaji Bamanga Tukurama.

Mr Kwasi Abeasi, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) and now the Managing Director of ABR said the emphasis of the congress would be on the promotion of the private sector, which has been identified as the engine of growth of the economy.

"I therefore urged the Ghanaian private sector to take advantage of the congress to enable them play a meaningful role in revitalizing the economy", Mr Abeasi noted.

He described as unfortunate, a recent directive banning some products of Ghana to Nigeria, saying, that action contradicted the tenets of regional integration and "the person who issued that directive has really not done well in promoting the inter-trade agenda of ECOWAS". He said ABR would investigate Nigeria's stand, which also affected other countries in the sub-region since it cast a slur on the integration process.