Ghana is the best destination for business in West Africa-Ablakwa

Gomoa Ankamu (C/R), May 22, GNA – Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah, Deputy Minister of Information has said the latest World Bank report indicates that Ghana is the best country to transact business in the West Africa sub-region.

He said the report moved Ghana from the 77th position to 67th as a country for business reform and also voted the country to 44 position out of 183 as a country for protecting businesses.

The Deputy Minister who was inaugurating Smayak Hotel, modern hospitality facility, at Gomoa Ankamu near Apam, said the government of President Mills is on course and that the country was gaining a lot of confidence and urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the business friendly environment created by government to invest.

He said the government was making a major transformation in the economy with the oil find.

Mr Ablakwa said the country could not be said to be industrialised without good hospitality services as he expressed contentment that the hotel was owned by a Ghanaian who would keep profits accruing from the facility in the country.

Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, Gomoa West District Chief Executive, commended the proprietor for putting up that splendid hotel in the rural area.

The DCE outlined investment opportunities in the district which included a large tract of coastal lands for hotels and restaurants, large deposits of quarry stones and gold deposits, clay deposits for pottery, bricks and tiles, sand for pozzilana cement, and arable land for mechanised farming.

He said the district also had tourist destinations which included slave sites and forts and also crops for agro-processing.

Mr Aidoo-Mensah said the assembly would assist investors to negotiate for acquisition of lands, consider discounts and exemption in payment of local taxes for a period between one to five years, facilitate the provision of utility services to the industrial sites and to provide business advisory services and technical engineering support.

Miss Christiana Benin, Conference and Banquet Manager of Smayak Hotel, said the facility had 36 air conditioned rooms, swimming pool and a tennis court.

Obrempong Nyamfo Krampah IX, Omanhene of Gomoa Ajumako, appealed to Ghanaians to patronise the facility to enable the investor to recoup what he had invested.