Awal woos Kenyan business people to Ghana
The Minister of Business Development, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, has urged Kenyan businessmen and women to take advantage of the conducive business environment in Ghana and invest in the country.
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He said the government had introduced a number of policy initiatives aimed at encouraging foreign businesses to partner Ghanaian businesses for mutual growth.
“Some of the policies include the District Enterprise Project under which each district in Ghana could have at least one factory, and one village, one dam and the abolition of some taxes,” he added.
Mr Awal made the call when he interacted with members of the Capital Club of Kenya, a group that comprises top businessmen and women from various sectors such as real estate, oil and gas, education, healthcare, tourism and aviation.
The meeting with the members of the Capital Club was part of activities during Mr Awal’s two-day visit to Kenya to interact with government officials and to visit small businesses and start-ups ahead of the upcoming Kenya-Ghana Business Expo to be held in Accra from November 1 to November 4, this year.
“Ghana is a land of opportunities with the right investment climate, warm and friendly people and a stable socio-political system,” he said.
Mr Awal noted that the Akufo-Addo government was determined to optimise the business environment in Ghana by removing obstacles that impeded the growth of businesses.
Private sector
In line with this, he called for closer collaboration between the private sectors of Kenya and Ghana to facilitate trade.
Mr Awal said Ghana was well positioned to become the aviation hub of West Africa and urged the Kenyan business community to spread out to other West African countries through Ghana.
He added that Kenyan businessmen and women could look at sectors such as agriculture and agri-business, ICT and tourism.
For his part, the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Trade, Kenya, Dr Chris Kiptoo, expressed the Kenyan government’s determination to boost trade and business relationship with Ghana.
He said the volumes of trade between Kenya and Ghana was not the best and expressed the need for the two countries to deepen the trade between them.
The members of the Capital Club called on the governments of Ghana and Kenya to address factors that hinder trade relations between the countries such as land acquisition, hiring of labour, business registration and tax issues.
The forthcoming Kenya-Ghana Business Expo aims at providing a platform for businessmen and women from the two countries to promote trade and business and also to stimulate intra-African conversations around joint ventures and partnerships for economic prosperity.