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Mr Yofi Grant — Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC
Mr Yofi Grant — Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC

GIPC woos UAE investors

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation agreement with Dubai South of the United Arab Emirate (UAE) for the execution of three projects to promote trade and investment in Ghana.

Dubai South is the UAE's largest single urban master development territory focusing on an aviation and logistics ecosystem that houses the world's largest airport.

The agreement was signed in the Abu Dhabi Hall, Business Connect Centre Expo Grounds, in the capital of the UAE during the opening of an international business and investment exposition scheduled for October 2021 to March 2022.

The six-month event, dubbed: "EXPO 2020 Dubai", will showcase business and investment opportunities in Ghana to the global business community to attract foreign direct investment into the country.

This year's event attracts more than 190 countries worldwide, with over 30 million audiences expected in the commercial city of Dubai.

Ghana has christened its participation as "Ghana: Limitless Opportunities", and would afford both state and private sector players to present and explain various business and investment opportunities available in Ghana to a global audience.

Projects

Before the signing of the agreement, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GIPC, Mr Yofi Grant, said the three projects would comprise an e-commerce park for business around technology; a humanitarian park for humanitarian activities and non trade activities relating to security in the Africa region; and a perishable park for agricultural produce.

"E-commerce park because Ghana has become the centre of technology and a vehicle for trade and investment. Ghana is currently the regional headquarters for Twitter Africa.

Ghana hosts the Google Artificial Intelligence Centre and is a major footprint for United Airlines," he said.

On the humanitarian park, he said: "Ghana is centrally located and it is easy to rally around logistics that are non-trade relating to security in the sub-region and for other humanitarian activities".

The perishable park, he said, was because Ghana was a major agricultural nation and a perishable hub would help create a market for agricultural produce such as vegetables and fruits.

10 Reasons

Mr Grant said 10 reasons for investors in the UAE to consider investing in Ghana included the democratic governance and respect for rule of law, the ease of doing business in Ghana, hosting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, the vast natural resources, human capital advantage and a good geographical location that made it easy to access the world, making the country the preferred destination for investors.

The Senior Advisor to the President, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, said Ghana would take advantage of the expo to showcase the investment climate it possessed.

“Today, Ghana is best positioned to be the investment hub of Africa because the AfCFTA is located in Accra, and whoever invests in Ghana has a market size of at least 1.2 billion people and 54 countries," he said.

Dubai ready

The CEO in charge of Logistics of Dubai South, Mr Mohsen Ahmad, said the two countries shared similar objectives and features.

He commended Ghana’s government for the “Ghana Beyond Aid” foreign policy initiative.

"We are the hub of the region.

We share similarity with Ghana with Ghana Beyond Aid, focusing on investment, education and diversification of the economy.

We are business-friendly," he said.

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