Businesses must attract foreign investments
The 8th edition of the executive breakfast meeting series organised by MTN Ghana and Business World has been held in Accra with a call on businesses to strategically position themselves in order to attract foreign investment.
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The programme has become the leading platform for executive briefings, networking and business matching platforms for chief executive officers (CEOs), senior management professionals and entrepreneurs operating in the country.
Speaking at the forum, which was on the theme, “Positioning your business for investment”, a world-renowned expert on trade and investment and CEO of The Whitaker Group, Ms Rosa Whitaker, said businesses must continue to be competitive in their operations and capital would eventually find them, adding that Ghana was well poised for global investments.
She said although Africa was witnessing growth, a lot of people were not connected to the progress in the region.
According to her, growth was not impressive if it was a jobless one and would eventually lead to instability.
She also said although most businesses were facing capital constraint, the major challenge was how to connect the capital to the right projects to be executed.
She thus encouraged businesses to make internal auditing a key component of their businesses in order to ensure transparency and that will ultimately woo investors to their side.
Commenting on sectors that could serve as areas of prime focus for global investors, Ms Whitaker said they included technology, power and infrastructure.
The General Manager of MTN Business Solutions, Mr Eric Nsarkoh, speaking at the meeting, explained that such meetings were organised to provide the platform for corporate people to discuss issues pertaining to the business world.
He said the theme for the forum was very apt as it was at the heart of the business agenda and was optimistic that the meeting would identify opportunities pertaining to investments and present the positive side of the business climate.
The Managing Director of Boulders Advisors Limited, Mr Reginald N. France, a panellist, advised businesses to manage their expectations when going out to meet investors.
He said businesses must first design their strategy and charter a business plan that would be reviewed accordingly, adding that there was the need to determine the right type of capital structure in order to win the right investors.
A participant, Mr Spio Garbrah, urged the youth to come up with bankable ideas in order to yield the right responses from investors.
He also called for the right linkages between the educational system and the requirements of the job market.
Participants in the forum also called for measures to help young people to access funds from such investors, as well as provide opportunities through polices to help drive recruitment of the youth.
By Ama Amankwah Baafi & Jessica Acheampong/Ghana