Yemisi Izuora
Ghana’s High Commissioner To U.K. and Republic of Ireland, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, has assured senior business executives of high return on their investment in Ghana. The High Commissioner, in the first of the round table engagement series organised by Hogan Lovells in collaboration with the African missions in UK underscored the urgent need for more foreign direct investment as the country seeks to deepen its industrialisation programme, create decent jobs and generate foreign exchange.
The Hogan Lovells African Engagement Series focuses on promoting Africa as an investment destination. Hogan Lovells, one of the largest global law firms with offices in London and Johannesburg, has been facilitating various investment and trade events both in Africa and in the UK. In addition, the law firm continues to host many African lawyers as part of its long-term commitment to training and capacity building.
The High Commissioner reiterated the fact that Ghana, has since 1992 experienced a very stable political environment anchored on democratic principles with comprehensive constitutional and statutory protection for investors. However, the country is yet to reap fully from this stability.
Commenting on the latest initiatives in respect of digitisation, the High Commissioner hinted that this is going to revolutionise Ghana’s development agenda. These initiatives include e-registration of companies, paperless clearance of goods from the ports as part of trade facilitation process, vehicle registration and issuance of drivers license.
In reference to the Akufo-Addo Programme for Economic Transformation (AAPET), HE Papa Owusu-Ankomah emphasised that Ghana as a country cannot be doing the same thing over the years and achieve a different result. In line with this, the initiative among other things seeks to address job creation, infrastructure development and accelerated investment in Agriculture. He also called on the CEOs to explore opportunities in the agro-processing, One District One Factory, Pharmaceutical, banking & finance, renewable energy, etc.
The senior representatives from leading technology, manufacturing, telecoms, agri-business, finance, renewable energy and investment companies called on the government to address issues related to bureaucratic delays, acquisition of lands for business, diaspora involvement and infrastructure deficiencies which tend to affect business take offs.
Andrew Skipper, partner of Hogan Lovells also urged the government to redouble its efforts of streamlining the ‘one stop shop’ initiative to ensure coordination and timeliness of business registration.
The High Commissioner assured the senior representatives of the commitment of the Ghana Mission in the United Kingdom to support and assist them in making prudent business and investment decisions about Ghana.