Though the beginning of 2009 saw Ghana facing a sick economy and an inflated budget deficit, the government rose to the challenge by adopting a multi-year fiscal stabilisation plan to restore expenditure control and pave the way for structural reforms, government stated.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Fiifi Fiave Kwettey, said Ghana’s congenial investment environment was a signal to the world that the country’s economy is soaring like an Eagle. Answering questions from the media after his remarks at the just ended UK-Ghana Investment Forum, which was held on the 18th of July at the Drapers Hall in London, the Deputy Minister of Finance said “Government is poised to achieve single digit inflation, latest by the close of this month, through its policies” he said. “We want to signal to the world that Ghana’s economy is really at a point of soaring like an Eagle”.

Mr. Kwettey further indicated that Government did a quick run through the performance of the economy in terms of growth and also determined how Ghana can continue to have a positive growth trend, which has continued for more than a decade. He noted “Ghana can prove that, despite the two various shocks that affected the economy and the world economy, Ghana’s growth has continued to be quite robust”.

Hon. Fiifi Kwettey, interacting with some participants

The UK-Ghana Investment Forum, which was dubbed: Enhancing Economic Growth Through Competitiveness, Diversification and Infrastructure Development, drew hundreds of participants from the business community and was organised by Africa Matters Limited (AML) and their conference partners Developing Markets Associates Limited (DMA) with support from the Ghana High Commission UK. The object of the forum was to expose Ghana’s investment climate and the country’s efforts to attract foreign direct investment.

On what Government would do to sustain economic growth, the Deputy Minister of Finance Hon. Fiifi Kwettey announced that “What happened recently in South Africa, where Ghana became virtually the blazing star for the whole continent and caught attention of the world, is simply indicating what we want to do as a nation: that we simply are on a point as a nation to clearly blaze another trail like we did through independence and also did as a politically stable society. We are about to do the same thing as far as the economic liberation of the people is concerned” he added.

He stressed that Ghana is a nation that is attracting attention from the very highest quarters of the world, adding “People can feel that Ghana is a Nation about to ‘sour’ and to do things in a phenomenal way”.

On the issue of the oil discovery, the Deputy Minister of Finance said, “a number of policies have been put in place to ensure that the oil revenue will be used properly, transparently and also used to anchor growth in the economy”.

On his part, the Managing Director for Stanbic Bank, Allhassan Andani, who was among the sponsors of the forum, explaining to Gold business world in an interview that the UK-Ghana Investment Forum was monumental in many senses, citing that “if you go to the international community, the country that understands and invests heavily in Ghana is the UK, thus the importance of the Forum” he noted.

He indicated that Stanbic Bank is firmly represented in Africa and Ghana, outsourced as a foreign company that is “investing in Ghana and we are enjoying good benefits”. On what Stanbic was doing to improve their investments in Ghana, the MD announced that “we are bringing in skilled people, we are partnering with other development financial institutions, and we are partnering with equity firms who are interested in Africa to bring all these resources to Ghana and Africa” he opined.

On whether there is hope for Ghana’s chequered economy, Mr. Alhassan Andani stated that looking at Ghana’s trajectory in terms of building on political and economic governance, which can be seen reflecting in the economic performance we are seeing, he believes that there is hope for the future. He argued that “Ghana’s oil would surely be a blessing and not a curse because we have learnt to govern ourselves both politically and economically” he stated.

At the close of the forum, some participants considered it was successful and hoped it would bring further investment in Ghana in the future.