GIPC on an aggressive drive to grow investments for national dev’t, Yofi Grant tells investors

By Patrick Paintsil

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mr. Yofi Grant, has reassured the investor community of government unrestrained desire to provide an enabling and conducive environment for business with the centre’s ongoing reforms and targeted initiatives which hoard huge prospects to the investing public as well as the sustained growth of the economy.

“When we say that want to position Ghana as the best place to invest and do business, we mean it; and so, we have to put the money where our mouths are and create the enabling environment to let that happen. The immediate beneficiary of all these reforms will be Ghanaians and the economy in general but we will also offer opportunities for significant growth and entry into the African market to our foreign investment partners,” he told gathering local and foreign investors at the ninth Economic Counsellors Dialogue in Accra.

According to the GIPC boss, despite the shocks to the economy in the last few years, the state investments promotion institution would continue to foster the right partnerships and linkages for investors and with matching infrastructure that facilitate business.

“Of course, we are not out of the woods yet, and so there’s going to be some belt tightening; but there will also be some aggression in ensuring that we create the opportunities for our young people to grow the economy through investments backed with primed business environment and improved ease of doing business in the country,” he added.

Mr. Grant further indicated that looking ahead; the GIPC will continue drive investments into its critical focus sectors of agro processing, manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure, technology and digitalization whilst looking at the soft sectors of education and health as well as the creative arts, which is an emerging and exciting area to building investments.

Lebanese Ambassador to Ghana and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Mr. Maher Kheir, underscored the importance shared growth and partnerships emphasizing that the concept of economic growth was broad and difficult to be achieved by any single nation.

“Economic growth is a vast concept that is difficult to be achieved all alone; in today’s global village, it is necessary for countries to adapt and partner with others to realize their growth aspirations,” he stressed.

According to him, economic partnerships serve as the backbone of global prosperity and stability as well as bring nations together in pursuit of shared growth and development,” he noted.

“As economic counselors, it is our duty to nurture these partnerships to unlock their full potential. To strengthen economic partnerships, we must first prioritise open communication and welcome collaborative mindsets that help in forging alliances that drive innovation, increase trade flows and boosts investments between our nations.

In the area of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, governments can negotiate and establish trade agreements that reduce barriers such as tariffs and quotas between countries.  These agreements can enhance market access, promote investments and facilitate the flow of goods and services.”