Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Union (EU) have initiated steps aimed at creating an avenue to regionalize investments in the West African sub-region.

The move is expected to be initiated through instituting key policy framework and guidelines to attract the needed investments.

This has become necessary since Ghana is spearheading the African Economic and Financial Renaissance and the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which calls for the need to institute policies aimed at directing and guiding the pan- African trade agenda.

The programme dubbed: West African Competitiveness Project focuses on strengthening the industrial competitiveness of countries in the sub-region and enhancing their integration into both regional and international trading systems to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The project aims to support selected value chains at both national and regional levels to promote transformation and better access to regional and international markets, taking into account social and environmental issues.

The support covers preparation of the regional policy framework for the development of the value chains set out in the regional industrial strategy.

At the International Trade Centre level, the GIPC has been a partner in promulgating an investment framework that is standardized and supported by all members of World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Importantly, phase two of AfCFTA’s implementation includes investment protocols and expectations are that by December, 2020, all member countries will be ready to implement the protocol.

Speaking with the Goldstreet Business during a recently held Annual Economic Counsellors’ Dialogue in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GIPC, Mr. Yofi Grant said over the past few years, global FDI has shrunk and with the advent of the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) that has disrupted various business and social gathering, it is expected to shrink further, hence the need to institute a new policy framework aimed at sustaining FDI inflows.

“Whiles I have reservations of it being binding, it’s still important to have a good framework that enables global investment”, he added.

Background

The component of the programme is structured to promote regional linkages between private sector operators and organisations in the selected value chains. This is expected to optimise the quality of infrastructure available to those value chains and improve the regional business environment which will also ensure all interventions of the programme.