Ghana conducive for investment: Foreign Minister tells Saudi investors
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has urged Saudi Arabian investors to make Ghana their preferred investment destination in Africa.
She said this when she held separate talks with business mogul and a member of the Saudi Royal family, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chamber of Commerce, Dr Sami bin Abdullah Al-Obaidi, in Riyadh last Sunday.
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Ms Botchwey was in Riyadh from Friday, January 24 to Sunday, January 26, 2020, and held bilateral talks with Saudi authorities to strengthen relations between Ghana and the Saudi Kingdom.
She encouraged Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to step up his investments in Ghana.
Already, the Saudi Prince has undertaken a number of projects in Ghana including the construction of the Alwaleed School, donation to build a mosque, support for an Early Child Centre and the Otumfuo Education Fund, among others.
His commercial investments include Movenpick Ambassador and Ibis hotels and he is currently constructing the Pullman Hotel and will bring the Accor hotels back in the country.
Gateway
A statement from the Foreign Ministry said Ms Botchwey stressed that Ghana, as a peaceful and stable country, offered a gateway to the entire West African market and beyond for the investment interests of Saudi Arabian industries.
She, therefore, welcomed opportunities to form mutually beneficial strategic alliances in that regard.
Ms Botchwey further urged Saudi investors to take advantage of the attractive incentives to invest in Ghana within the context of the Ghana government’s agenda to industrialise the economy.
She stated that since the outlook for the Saudi economy was very positive and Ghana was also an oil-producing country, the two countries could work towards closer trade and investment cooperation in the field of oil and gas.
Saudi business hopeful
In her meeting with the President of the Saudi Council for Chamber of Commerce, Dr Al-Obaidi described the minister's visit as very important for the Saudi business community, explaining that the meeting would transform the relationship between the private sectors of both countries.
He said he was optimistic that the visit would help attract investors from Ghana to Saudi Arabia and vice versa to increase the trade volume between both nations.
He spoke about Saudi Arabia's move to assist small and medium enterprises in Ghana including the decision to set up an export finance bank with an amount of 30 billion Riyadh seed fund to finance Ghanaian exporters to Saudi Arabia.
According to him, the bank would also support the mining industry in Ghana.