UNDP, government et al to amplify development opportunities under AfCFTA

The UNDP Ghana Resident Representative, Dr. Angelina Lusigi has expressed her outfits excitement to partner with the government of Ghana, development partners and the AfCFTA secretariat to amplify opportunities that are available within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement for the growth of businesses in Ghana and overall development of the African Continent.

During her first official visit to the Ministry of Information in Ghana, since assuming office as the Country Representative of the UNDP to Ghana, Mrs. Angelina Lusigi highlighted effective information sharing as key to achieving the development targets of states and institutions.

She said the UNDP in particular is optimistic about the vision for the Continental Free Trade and the opportunities it promises.

Dr. Lusigi also emphasized the need for countries to work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and shared her outfit's commitment to see such efforts accelerated.

“Information is a powerful accelerator for SDGs and media play a critical role in advancing action & accountability. I appreciate such fruitful discussions that are geared towards deepening media capacity and amplify development opportunities for AfCFTA”

The Minister of Information and Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi welcomed the new UNDP Resident Representative and expressed his joy over her desire to push for development-focused programs in Ghana.

The Minister of Information revealed that the Government of Ghana has been at the forefront of pushing for the UN SDGs as Ghana is one of the few leading countries to launch its budget report on SDGs in spite of challenges that have been unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On the UN-SDGs, government is providing the leadership role in this direction. And as you know our President is Co-Chair of the SDGs and has therefore made it a top priority on his list. Ghana is one of the few countries that has regularly launched its Budget report on SDGs” The Minister of Information revealed.

The Honorable Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who is also responsible for Trade Information in Ghana reminded the UNDP that government is seeking to build the capacity of the Ghanaian media in disseminating development and Trade Issues to highlight opportunities in those areas as well undertake programs to ensure the safety of journalists in Ghana.

He said with the resent issues on illegal mining for instance that the country is currently grappling with, it has significant ripple effect on climate change, poverty, environmental sustainability among others which requires that the capacity of journalist should be built in such areas in order to educate the nation.

The Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah also stated that Ghana’s special role as the host of the African Continental Trade Area, comes with it some responsibilities to ensure that opportunities under the AfCFTA are well articulated to the business community in Ghana and Africa for them to take advantage of the AfCFTA and use it to benefit the continent.

He said in this regard, the Ministry welcomes collaborations with International Partners and the private sector to drive such an agenda of effectively disseminating Trade Information to the public in Ghana and Africa.

The Economic Advisor to the UNDP-Ghana, Dr. Fred Mugisha also called for the need to strengthen media content on what he described as the 5Ps, which is People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace and Partnerships to achieve the targeted UN SDGs.

“We need to emphasize the intersection of the 'integrator function' for the SDGs and need to strengthen 'media content' in the 5P - People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace & Partnerships”.

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, congratulated UNDP for partnering with Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) and the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) to launch the Ghana Investor Maps which provides Investors in Ghana and around the globe, who are looking for data and information that highlight investment opportunities to access the map for such purposes.