The Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) has launched the maiden Invest Ghana Summit to attract investment into value addition, industrialisation and other productive sectors under the Government’s New Economy agenda.
The summit, scheduled for November, is on the theme: “Investing in Ghana’s New Economy: Building a Productive Economy that Creates Value and Competes Globally.”
It was launched in Accra on Friday by Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the initiative aligned with President John Dramani Mahama’s agenda to shift the economy from raw material exports towards value addition, innovation, productivity and globally competitive enterprises.
She said investment was critical to Ghana’s economic transformation and called for sustained partnerships among the State, private sector, foreign investors and financial institutions to create jobs and drive growth.
The Ministry and GIPA, she noted, were working together to attract investments that would generate employment, transfer technology, strengthen local supply chains and add value to the country’s natural resources.
The summit, she said, would support industrialisation by attracting investment into manufacturing, agribusiness, processing and other productive sectors, in line with the Government’s 24-Hour Economy policy.
Mr Simon Madjie, the Chief Executive Officer of GIPA, said the summit came at a crucial time in Ghana’s economic recovery, citing stronger growth, easing inflation, improved international reserves and a more stable exchange rate as factors that had helped restore investor confidence.
The government initiatives, including the Big Push, the 24-Hour Economy, and the Accelerated Export Development Programme, provided opportunities to mobilise investment, technology and expertise to expand productive enterprises, he said.
The summit would showcase bankable investment opportunities across the 16 regions, with focus areas including manufacturing, agribusiness and processing, commercial farming, the digital economy and telecommunications, creative arts, mining, and oil and gas.
Mr Madjie said Ghana, as it approached 70 years of independence, needed to promote productive investments that built industries, expanded local enterprises and created sustainable jobs.
He also outlined reforms to the country’s investment framework under Act 1135, which removed the US$500,000 minimum capital requirement for wholly foreign-owned enterprises.
Act 1173 had also reformed Technology Transfer Agreements by broadening their definition to include software and foreign trademarks, reducing the minimum duration from 18 to 12 months, and setting a five-year validity period, renewable for another five years, Mr Madjie said.
The reforms, he said, were intended to reduce investment barriers, simplify processes and create a more flexible and investor-friendly business environment.
Mr Madjie urged investors, businesses and development partners to use the summit to build partnerships, explore opportunities and contribute to Ghana’s economic transformation.
The launch brought together representatives of government agencies, including the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), members of the diplomatic corps, business and trade chambers, private sector leaders and development partners.