President Akufo-Addo has told investors in the United Kingdom that Ghana wants to participate in the global market place fully with Ghanaian products in order to build a nation that will be able to provide jobs for her people.

Addressing attendees of the Ghana Investment and Opportunity Summit 2020 in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, under the theme, “Accessing the African Common Market through Ghana: Technology, Digitisation & Industrialisation,’ President Akufo-Addo said, “Ghana is endowed with great potential and is a country where security is assured, where the rule of law is upheld by an independent Judiciary and where investments are protected in law and in fact, Ghana stands tall amongst its peers.”

To this end, the President indicated that Ghana is ready to engage the rest of the world with her products in order to develop the nation’s economy.

“We want to participate in global market place at the high end of the value chain for Ghanaian products. We want to bring greater dignity to the lives of millions of people in Ghana and we want to build a “Ghana Beyond Aid,'” President Akufo Addo said.

Success of the AfCFTA

President Akufo-Addo in his keynote address observed that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement secretariat will be fully operational by March 2020 ahead of the full take-off of continental trading in June 2020. He reiterated Ghana’s commitment to the agreement to ensure its success.

“Ghana is fully committed to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). With the collective desire for shared prosperity, we are confident that AfCFTA will succeed and offer a new impetus of dynamism for rapid growth of Africa’s economies and deepen the process of integration in Africa. Empowered Ghanaian enterprises should be frontline actors in this new and exciting journey in Africa’s economic history. We owe it to generations unborn to ensure that the biggest trading block on globe, whose outcomes will be rewarding to all and which will assist in attaining the Ghana and Africa we want, does not falter,” President Akufo-Addo indicated.

UK Investment Minister

Graham Stuart, the United Kingdom’s Minister for Investment at the Department for International Trade in a his remarks noted that he has taken note of the several initiatives of the government of Ghana aimed at rapidly developing the country and economy and that the UK will do all within its power to supercharge those efforts.

“It is worth noting what a remarkable economic success story Ghana is. Even within the context of an African continent where so many economies have expanded in an incredible pace over the last decade, Ghana has exited the IMF programme, maintained fiscal discipline and delivered strong growth,” Graham Stuart said.

The GHIOS

The Ghana Investment and Opportunities Summit (GHIOS), the first of which took place over two days in October 2018 at the London Hilton on Park Lane was launched by the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who led a delegation of industry captains and business leaders to showcase why Ghana is the number choice for investors considering to do business in Africa. The summit was organised by the GHIOS Committee in collaboration with the Ghana High Commission UK (GHCUK) and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).

The aim of GHIOS is to bring together delegates from the international investor community especially from the United Kingdom, venture capitalists and private equity fund managers amongst others for in-depth discussions and the exploration of viable investment opportunities within various sectors of the Ghanaian economy. It also aims to match local businesses with international partners.