Business News of Saturday, 11 February 2017

Source: starrfmonline.com

Ghana is open for business – Akufo-Addo to investors

Nana Akufo-Addo meets Chairman of Al Serkal Group and United Arab Emirates delegation of investors. Nana Akufo-Addo meets Chairman of Al Serkal Group and United Arab Emirates delegation of investors.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has indicated to investors that Ghana is open for business, assuring of the creation of a conducive business environment which will ensure that businesses flourish, thereby creating prosperity for the Ghanaian people.

The President made this known on Friday, February 10, 2017, when the Chairman of the Al Serkal Group, Mr. Eisa Bin Nasser Alserkal, together with a delegation of investors from the United Arab Emirates, paid a courtesy call on him at the presidency.

In the presence of the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, President Akufo-Addo noted that the topmost priority of his government is to create jobs for the people of Ghana, and, thereby return the country onto the path of progress and prosperity.

The President told the delegation that the industrialization of the economy, with the aim of moving the country away from being dependent on raw material exports to an economy of value-added activities, and the revival of Ghanaian agriculture will be his main focus.

It is for this reason, the President indicated, that his government is determined to partner with investors and the private sector to set up strategic industries, with the aim of helping create jobs for the youth.

These strategic industries, he revealed, include an iron and steel industry, which will exploit Ghana’s iron ore deposits at Oppon Manso and Sheini, near Tamale, and facilitate the manufacture of machine parts and equipment.

Additionally, President Akufo-Addo indicated that his government, in partnership with the private sector, aims to establish an integrated aluminium industry, which will exploit the country’s bauxite deposits at Kyebi and Nyinahin; and also petrochemical industries from our oil and gas deposits from the Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa fields.

On his part, Mr. Eisa Bin Nasser Alserkal, told President Akufo-Addo that the decision to invest in Ghana stemmed from his company’s belief that Ghana offered the right opportunities for investors in Africa, and they, in turn, will help develop the country.

Al Serkal is a business conglomerate based in Dubai, with a bouquet of companies in the fields of healthcare, manufacturing, petrochemicals, commercial and residential real estate, banking, mobile telephony and construction services.