Brand Ghana strategises to attract investment
A three-year strategic plan to enhance Ghana’s image to attract more investors for national development is being developed by the Brand Ghana Office.
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The new image is expected to highlight the investment opportunities in Ghana, the Ghanaian culture, values, democracy, heritage, among other things, to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the international market that will attract and retain investors.
The 2017/2019 Branding Ghana strategic plan will be aligned with the 40-year development plan of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
The plan will not only focus on international branding but also on public education on the values, heritage, economic and social best practices.
The Brand Ghana Office was established in 2009 by the late President John Evans Atta Mills, to among other tasks, package the country's values, heritage, socio-economic and political environment to the outside world.
In line with that, the council members and the management team of the office met in Accra yesterday to begin the process involved in creating a unique name and image for Ghana to be implemented from 2017 to 2019.
Behavioural change
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Brand Ghana Office, Mrs Hellen Annan, explained that the focus on education was to enhance behavioural change in Ghana to ensure that the image carved and projected for Ghana internationally was exactly what it was in reality.
“When we focused solely on international branding, we realised that most of the people the international branding initiative attracted to the country were disappointed somehow because the situation was not exactly as projected internationally,” she said.
Mrs Annan said to be able to make and maintain Ghana as a tourist and investment market, all stakeholders, particularly the public, needed to put all hands on deck to create the desired Ghana and position it appropriately on the international scene.
Collective responsibility
In his opening remarks at the meeting, the Minister for Trade and Industry and Chairman of the Brand Ghana Council, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, called on all stakeholders to help brand Ghana appropriately for national development.
Mr Spio-Garbrah expressed the view that the success of the Made-in-Ghana Campaign currently ongoing nationally and internationally could be credited to the Branding Ghana initiative.
He called on producers of made-in-Ghana goods and services to adhere to international best practices to enable Ghana to compete better on the international market.
Mr Spio-Garbrah reiterated the appeal to Ghanaians to patronise made-in-Ghana goods locally and internationally to enhance the Branding Ghana initiative.
“The people of Ghana are Brand Ghana. All of us!! It is the people, their education, abilities and aspirations that ultimately deliver what our country is and create the potential for tourism, business, cultural, social and political exchange,” he said.
The trade minister said the Brand Ghana Office would work in partnership with both public and private institutions whose operations were related to creating an image for Ghana.
Such companies, he said, included the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, the Free Zones Board and Cocobod.