Mumuni woos investors from Mumbai

Accra, May 22, GNA - Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has attended the Africa Day celebrations organized by the Chamber in Mumbai, India from May 18 to 19 at the invitation of the Indo-African Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

A statement issued by the Ministry in Accra on Friday said the plenary session of the celebrations was attended by Mr Musalia Mudavadi, Deputy Prime Minister of Kenya, Mr Jayant Patil, Home Minister of the Indian State of Maharashtra, African Diplomats in India, and several captains of industry and finance. Alhaji Mumuni in his speech stressed that the continent of Africa was today "a different continent, both in character and form, from what existed in the 20th Century". He said in the 21st Century, the Century of Hope, Africa was witnessing peace, security and the promotion of sustainable socio-economic development, and Africa stood great chance of becoming one of the fastest growing regions of the world.

Alhaji Mumuni highlighted the strengths of Ghana's attractive business environment, including the performance of the economy, the commitment of the government to the rule of law, the reforms being undertaken in business process, and the liberal incentives, reliefs and guarantees available under the investment laws of Ghana, particularly for key sectors such as agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing and industry, mining, energy, tourism, health and financial services. The statement said during his visit to India, Alhaji Mumuni held several meetings with various captains of industry and paid a working visit to the premises of Shree Ganesh Limited, an India fine jewellery production house in Kolkata.

The Foreign Minister availed his visit to invite the company to establish an Africa operation in Ghana, both for value addition of the minerals in Ghana and also to train Ghanaian nationals in their refined jewellery-making methods.

While in Mumbai the Foreign Minister paid a courtesy call on Mr Patil and discussed with him, among others, investment areas in Ghana that the State of Maharashtra could participate in, particularly sugarcane production and processing projects in the Komenda and Asutuare areas.

Following the discussions, the Home Minister of Maharashtra agreed to send an expert team to Ghana to undertake pre-feasibility studies on the prospective projects.