President John Dramani Mahama is wooing businesses to Ghana, giving the assurance that the country has the right atmosphere for investments to thrive.
Addressing the Czech-Ghana Business Cooperation Seminar in Accra yesterday, President Mahama stressed that Ghana was open for business.
The seminar brought together Ghana and Czech Republic investors to brainstorm on opportunities and areas of investment.
President Mahama said there were investment opportunities in the areas of transport and logistics, agro processing, digital technology, manufacturing, automobile, health, sanitation, housing, and tourism among others to be explored.
The administration, President Mahama said was deeply committed to creating the enabling environment for business growth and foreign direct investment through several key strategic initiatives.
“As the African proverb aptly reminds us, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, then go together’. We want to go far and we’ll do so with our Czech colleagues,” he stated.
The initiatives, he said, included a focus on the global value chain by transforming Ghana’s raw materials into high value finished products.
He mentioned that Ghana was actively promoting and diversifying its non-traditional exports to strengthen its economic resilience and urged Czech businesses to form partnership with their Ghanaian counterparts for mutual benefits.
President Mahama told the gathering that his government was making substantial investment in transportation networks and digital connectivity infrastructure to enhance Ghana’s competitiveness in the global economy.
Government, according to President Mahama, was streamlining business regulations to improve the ease of doing business, and provide attractive incentives for foreign direct investments, particularly in priority sectors.
Dedicated investment promotion agencies, he said, stood ready to provide comprehensive support to Czech businesses interested in exploring the abundant opportunities that Ghana offers.
The President added that the government was implementing policies and programmes to support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, with special emphasis on women and youth-led businesses that represent the future of our economy, saying that Ghana welcomes partnerships that could provide technical expertise, facilitate technology transfer, and enhance access to appropriate financing mechanisms for enterprises.
He urged the private sector, captains of industry, and business representatives present to seize the opportunity to network, explore synergies, and build lasting partnerships founded on mutual respect and shared prosperity.
“Today, we embrace that responsibility by forging economic ties that will generate sustainable prosperity for our nations and peoples. Ghana is open for business, and we stand ready to work with our Czech partners to create prosperity for our peoples. Together, we can build a future of shared economic growth and development,” the President stressed.
President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel said his country saw Ghana as a natural partner attractive to Czech businesses.
President Pavel lauded Ghana’s democratic environment which he said creates the condition for stability in an economic increasingly unstable world.
“I believe we have common interest to build on the friendship we have,” President Pavel declared, encouraging Ghana to “transition from goodwill to concrete results”.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
