Country Manager of Invest in Africa visits GNA

The Country Manager of Invest in Africa (IIA), Mr Sam Brandful on Thursday paid a courtesy call on the Ghana News Agency (GNA) as part of a media engagement programme to foster links with media houses in Accra.

He announced that as part of efforts to forge a strong and sustainable links between local suppliers and investors, IIA would launch an online database, known as the African Partner Pool (APP) later in the year, for local suppliers/businesses, across sectors.

That, he said, would serve as a platform to gain visibility for Ghanaian Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) and connect them with potential foreign and domestic clients. The APP would also offer business skills and management training to help achieve its dual aim of attracting greater investment to Ghana and local SME’s, whilst raising competitiveness, he added.

Mr Brandful said: “The goal of the APP is to help international companies and purchasers to identify suitable and credible local partner/suppliers, who have the potential to meet key best practices and international standards”. He noted that the web-based directory would add value through IIA’s partners, by providing training, mentoring and coaching to managers of selected businesses, supporting their ultimate aim to become globally competitive.

He stated that, in its resolve to find practical solutions to the shared challenges of operating on the continent, IIA sponsored qualitative and quantitative research to unearth the main obstacle Ghanaian SMEs and entrepreneurs faced in growing their businesses.

“According to the findings, a major challenge SMEs encountered was a huge information and communication gap between multinational corporations and local suppliers, including a lack awareness of credible local firms by multinational companies and basic challenges for local firms in accessing tenders.

“In response to this, the APP seeks to create greater awareness of investors’ supply chain procedures, encouraging a more inclusive approach and the much-sought visibility for those providing the goods and services,” he added.

Mr Brandful said IIA’s training modules and practical ‘how to’ guides aim to bridge the significant gap the research found between the key policies and procedures multi-nationals generally adopt before working with a local firm and what is currently in place.

“Other challenges in the report included the much-lamented access to financing, high interest rates, taxes and levies, high operational costs and inadequate infrastructure.

“...IIA also initiated activities, including hosting the GIPC roundtable discussions, focused on energy and infrastructure in London and South Africa and working the African Development Bank towards securing funding for further business skills training in Ghana to fulfill its results-driven mandate,” he said.

He said although the IIA’s objective was to proactively promote growth and development in the private sector, it also recognizes the pivotal role that the government plays in creating the right environment for businesses to flourish, particularly with regard to policy-making and legislation.

“This is why IIA partnered with leading private sector companies, alongside key public sector institutions, such as the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority and Association of Ghana Industries.”

Mr Brandful expressed his gratitude to the GNA for giving him the audience, adding that, he saw the media as an important ally in IIA’s quest to open communication channels and create awareness of ways to ameliorate the business and investment climate in Ghana.

IIA is an independent non-profit partnership organization established in 2012 to actively support investment in Africa and develop local enterprises with Ghana as its priority market.