The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant is optimistic that Ghana will get investments with or without COVID-19.
He confidently made the assertion while reiterating the projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) made by government and the Bank of Ghana which still shows positive figures in spite of the coronavirus compared to other countries.
“I dare say that compared to other countries, Ghana will get investments and we will. While economies are going through recession, we will see our GDP slow down but still be in the positive. Indeed, we estimate that it will drop from the projected 6.8 which we were well on track on achieving to between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent.”
Talking from experience, he assured that Ghana will secure investments post-COVID.
“So far as I’m concerned and from where I sit, most of these people have not cancelled their investments…people don’t invest because they like your face or they think you are a happy guy. They invest for many reasons, one of them being that they are going to create a business that is sustainable and will grow. So, of course, they will make money. Every businessman intends to make money but I’ll tell you, my life long experience as an investment banker, people who invest and invest big go a little beyond the commercial return. They are people who dream big and want to build big and achieve,” he said.
Explaining why he maintains that Ghana is a viable center for investment, he highlights some parameters investors consider before choosing a country to invest in.
“They want to be in regions because they think its strategically important. So, you see investors elsewhere say I want to be in Ghana because Ghana is a place I think is going to go forward. That decision is based on a number of parameters; the fact that we are seen to be politically stable, the fact that we speak English, the fact that we’re positioned right in the center of the world, the fact that we have achieved some significant economic gains over the past three years and set a certain trend is attractive to most investors because that’s what they want to see. They want to see a country where GDP is growing because growth in GDP means growth in market and growth in market means growth in product, growth in consumption. So, if you situate in a place that has growth in investment because that is going to impact further growth in GDP, then you’re in a good place because Ghana offers that good place. That’s just one side of the equation,” he said.
Speaking on the PM Express, Mr. Grant said, “the second side of the equation is that we’re a resource rich country. Most of the resources haven’t changed, COVID or no COVID we’re still rich in oil and gas, we still have mineral resources like bauxite, iron, lithium, manganese, diamond. We still have significant agricultural land which is there, COVID or no COVID; they are still there. And so what you’d expect to happen and what I’m hearing and speaking to a number of global investors is that, well yeah, we need to first ensure that we’ll protect lives and livelihoods and then we’ll come and tackle the real delivery of this thing because we believe that Ghana offers that real attractive opportunities that the investor wants to see…Ghana looks extremely comparative attractive.”
According to him, there is no doubt that there will be growth. This, he says, is testimony to what his outfit is working on even during COVID times and what they have planned out.
The GIPC boss revealed some of the projects government is undertaking to support his statement of Ghana’s growth in the future.
He elucidated by saying, “we’ve had a number of projects we’re going to take off phenomenally not just to change the economy but even change the landscape of Accra and Kumasi, our major cities and as the government has always intended, this was the year of roads so we’re massively going to develop the roads and massively develop some infrastructure. Of course, I’m sure you know of the Accra marine-air project which would have significantly changed Ghana and reinforced Ghana as a hub for regional tourism. We know the trade fair was also undergoing some development…so, we had all these things that were advanced in the discussion of development. We even have the Accra sky train which would have been the first sky train, I believe, in West Africa and these things do a lot for your image and also for your morale.”
