The European Business Organisation (EBO) has disclosed that, EU businesses have invested close to €3.0 billion in Ghana within past three years and still counting.
With the quantum of investments and still expecting more, the EBO is calling on the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), to come clear on its investment-courting law that is set to be reviewed
The European business community has over the years remained committed to Ghana and reaffirms their readiness to contribute significantly to the country’s industrialisation and development agenda. They believe a clearly defined investment regime from the GIPC Act will be a push for investments.
“We think it would be important for the GIPC to clearly define the legal framework that foreign direct investments operate under and we hope this will be done as soon as possible”, Celestino Alvarez-Neira, Chairman of the European Business Organisation (EBO) said last week at a business roundtable organised by the Spain-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (SGCC) in Accra.
“Foreign direct investment is always the engine of growth for every economy; you can develop a country from the inside or the outside, and FDI is a key component of that.
“Today, any foreign company wanting to operate in Ghana must have a certain share capital, quotas and other established conditions. We all know in the sector that this act is going to be reformed, and so we are waiting for the new conditions,” he added.
To Mr. Alvarez-Neira, foreign companies that decide to set up in Ghana to create jobs and wealth for themselves and the country need to have very clear conditions.
The Spain-Ghana Chamber of Commerce hosts Spanish businesses operating in the domestic market as well as Ghanaian companies that deal in Spanish products.
The business roundtable was therefore to discuss with the GIPC some challenges faced by both existing and potential Spanish investors.
President of the chamber, Nadim Ghanem-Pares, said the GIPC has done a great job helping Ghana to develop and attract investments, but there was still room for improvement, especially in terms of relaxing the barriers to investment.
“One major item we want to put on the table is for the GIPC to drop the barriers of entry for businesses that are really not available in Ghana. We want to protect local businesses and industry, but we cannot put barriers to businesses that do not exist, like niche technologies that are peculiar to Spain but could bring a lot of value to the Ghanaian economy,” he stressed.
