The Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) says it will soon publish details of its review of criteria and requirements for foreigners who wish to invest in the country.

Currently foreign investors who wish to invest in Ghana are required to provide a capital limit of $200,000 for joint ventures with Ghanaian companies, while foreign companies that are fully owned by non-Ghanaians must provide 500,000 dollars in capital.

Speaking to journalists after a breakfast meeting with investors and heads of missions in Ghana, the Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC, Mr. Yoofi Grant hinted that the new laws will look at the impact Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) on local companies.

“The review of the GIPC [law] is a very interesting. There are many parts of the law which we think we could look at again to attract investors into the market. One that is a bit controversial is the capital limit, that says that if you are in joint venture with a foreigner the foreigner needs to demonstrate a minimum inflow of $200,000 and if it is a foreign company that wants to be 100 percent owned, we should bring a minimum capital inflow of $500, 000 and for trade $1,000,000. It has a reason for being there, but is that reason still valid? Has it been helpful in getting our companies to grow up and become as big?” he asked.

Mr. Grant was of the view that it will be prudent to fully assess the impact of the laws over the years to redirect its focus.

“My belief, and from the literature and the research we are doing it is not. So, we need to take a relook at that law and open up and say that, no we will still say that if you can invest here, bring in the minimum in whatever figure it is. Let the companies come and invest in the country. There are companies that may come with the minimum investment of say $100,000 for example in the IT business but they come and employ 200 people, but because they will not meet the minimum capital, they will not come,” he observed.

Recommending some measures, Mr. Grant maintained that the issue must be thoroughly discussed and addressed to provide a win-win situation for both foreign investors and Ghanaian business owners.

He reiterated the need to always consider global trends when formulating laws to make Ghana competitive since investors will move to alternative countries that provide cheaper cost of doing business.

“So those are the kind of things we need to talk about. Bear in mind we are also comparing ourselves to our neighbors, Cote d’ivoire, Nigeria, how can Ghana best position itself to be the main attraction center for West Africa,” he said.

Source: citibusinessnews.com

Trade and Industry Minister, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, has said that aside the one district one factory policy, the government is looking forward to establishing a new vehicle assembly and automotive industry.

This industry, among others, is captured under an industrial expansion initiative dubbed, ‘Strategic Anchor Industries.’“Apart from the one district one factory initiative, we are also embarking on what we call Strategic Anchor Industries. So hopefully, within the next five years, we will be diversifying our economy away from cocoa and gold and we will be looking at the petrochemical industry and integrated iron and steel industry, aluminium and bauxite industry which then leads us on to a new vehicle assembly and automotive industry,” he said.

He said all these at the National Single Window Conference held yesterday at Kempinski hotel, Accra. The minister dropped his original speech and ceased the opportunity to market the arrangements and policies of the government for which the UNCTAD must consider and support. He further indicated that the government will rekindle the garment and textile industry. “We are bringing back the garment and textile industry, creating Ghana as a pharmaceutical hub particularly to exploit the African market and many other things which then provides the basis for us to take trade facilitation seriously,” he stated.

The minister revealed government’s intention to establish industrial parks in each of the 10 regions, citing that as a reason for the progress made in China and Asia. Ghana has been working on the National Single Window for some time, and the minister believes it the time has come for it to be elevated to another level by making it a national priority.

 Source: peacefmonline.com

Government will fully capitalise on the implementation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation agreement to develop a truly open, transparent and dynamic trading economy, Mr Alan Kyeremanten, the Minister of Trade and Industry has said.

Speaking at a conference on the Ghana National Single Window programme and the WTO Trade Facilitation agreement, Mr Kyeremanten said government would redouble efforts in export development and use the advent of the WTO Agreement to develop new market opportunities and support programmes for traders.

“Trade facilitation is a cornerstone of the government’s trade and economic development agenda. We believe it will greatly assist Ghana in reaching our full potential as a leading trading nation, both regionally and globally, and that this in turn will create strong earnings and employment growth within the country,” he said.

Ghana is one of the original signatories to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, which had come into force.

WTO estimates that the agreement will generate more than one trillion dollars in benefits annually and that most of these benefits would accrue to developing economies.

Mr Kyeremanten said the introduction of the Ghana National Single Window was facilitating the ease with which the country’s companies compete in global and regional markets.

It reduces the time and cost of trading across borders and ensures predictability in delivering goods to markets and promotes transparency and enhances government revenue mobilisation through increased compliance and enhanced economic performance, he said.

Mr Kyeremanten said the developments were all part of the government’s ambition to fundamentally change the way ‘we work with and regulate international businesses in Ghana by providing an enhanced business regulatory environment.’

He said the government would eliminate all unnecessary processes, simplify and harmonise the rest, and deliver a fully integrated and automated all-of-government services to our partners in economic development-the Ghanaian business community.

Mr Kyeremanten said as the Ghana National Single Window project unfolded over the next three years, government expect to achieve an overall reduction in the administrative time and cost of trading internationally by 50 per cent to 25 per cent.

In addition to the positive impact on competitiveness and employment growth, he said the achievement would make Ghana more attractive to foreign investment as transparency, predictability; time and cost were the key factors in the location decisions of export-oriented businesses.

“Indeed, I see the combination of the enhanced trade facilitation and trade development programmes as a dynamic synergy for the economic development of our country and I believe that the Ghana National Single Window Programme will play a major role in realising the economic benefit of this synergy,” Mr Kyeremanten said.

He lauded the inclusion of Single Window in the Trade Facilitation Agreement and said it would help implement many of the measures in this Agreement, through the simplification of trade procedures, the provision of trade related information, the enhancement of co-operation between related government agencies, and the implementation of international standards.

Ms Valentina Mintah, Chief Executive Officer of WestBlue Consulting, said a lot of progress had been made since December 2015 when the Ghana Single Window programme came on board.

She said it had tremendously helped to reduce the cost and time of doing business in Ghana and make trade easier but there was still a long way to go and urged government to implement all the agreements in WTO Facilitation Agreement to position Ghana as the leading hub in the sub-region.

The two-day conference is being organised by Westblue Consulting in collaboration with Ghana International Chamber of Commerce, under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC), Yofi Grant has lauded Ghana’s goodwill in the international community describing it as significant enough to appeal to a pool of potential investors. 

Reginald Yofi Grant who is part of government’s delegation led by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to the World Bank was highly optimistic that Ghana will be an entry point for Africa considering the numerous investment decisions embarked on by the NPP administration.

“We are having good discussions with government official, investors and businesses here in DC. We have a good democratic credentials, so we are repositioning ourselves to become the entry point to Africa. We doing quite a number of right things including scraping of taxes the put more GHC1 billion back into the economic,” Mr. Grant said.

Mr. Grant was speaking exclusively to Famous Kwesi Atitsogbe after the World Bank and International Financial Corporation (IFC) spring meeting held in Washington DC, USA where he said that the team has spoken to the World Bank, investors and banks, who have in the pass dealt with Ghana.

“We are meeting different investors and they have all shown interest in the business friendly environment we are creating in Ghana,” Mr. Grant noted.

The team had earlier been to London on a similar mission where they met Ghana’s bond holders, potential investors, US government officials and other key stakeholders to share the government’s plan to address the country’s debt, attract new investment and create jobs.

Meanwhile the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is setting up a database of investment opportunities and investible assets in the country which will be available to both investors and potential investors to enable them to make informed investment decisions in Ghana.

 Source: ghanaweb.com

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has assured the business community of higher returns on their investments in Ghana than anywhere in the West Africa sub-region.

The Ministry has therefore urged prospective investors, especially from Latvia, to consider Ghana as the gateway to a wider West African market of over 300 million people.

The political and micro-economic stability were all available for the benefit of anyone seeking to do business in Ghana, Mr. Edwin Adjei, Acting Chief Director of the Foreign Ministry noted.

Speaking at a Ghana- Latvia business forum hosted by the Foreign Ministry in Accra on Friday, Mr. Adjei, on behalf of the Sector Minister, Mrs. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, expressed government’s determination to turn the fortunes of the country around with much focus on trade, investment and industrialisation.

The forum followed a political summit held between Ghana and Latvian delegation made of investors and led by Mr Andrejs Pildegovics, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Latvia and some Ghanaian businesspeople.

Ghana and Latvia, a country with a population of two million people is one of the fastest growing economies, established diplomatic relations in January 1992, which had served as a boost for economic cooperation and establishments of contacts.

“As you may be aware, over the past decade, Ghana has witnessed impressive economic growth with annual growth rate averaging over 6.4 per cent…Estimates from the Ghana Statistical Service from April 2013 show that in real terms, the Ghanaian economy expanded by 7.9 per cent in 2012, which compares well with an average global growth of 3.2 per cent and an average sub-Saharan growth of 4.8 per cent, Mr. Adjei told Latvians.

He said Ghana in recent times had also made gains in her bilateral trade, increasing by over 70 per cent the last five years, and that the European Union of which Latvia was a part, continued to be the most important trade partner for the country, accounting for around 30 per cent of the nation’s total external trade since 2012.

Mr. Adjei said foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Ghana had also increased significantly in the past few years, with the country featuring among the top five recipients of FDI into Africa in 2012.

“In view of these developments, Latvia has the opportunity to share in Ghana’s economic growth success story, while we also look forward to tapping into the rich experience of Latvia, especially, with much focus on development cooperation based on our shared values and aspiration” he noted.

Mr. Pildegovics, on his part said the forum afforded the opportunity for Latvia to build stronger bilateral relations with Ghana.

He said Latvia which marks 100^th years anniversary in 2018, was the 17^th most friendly country to do business and that many business opportunities existed in that country with more businesspeople looking for new opportunities in Ghana to explore for partnerships.

He said areas of forestry which gives Latvia 2.2 billion euros of revenue annually could be explored by Ghanaian businesses while railways, ICT and technologies, transportation, agriculture and food processing, wood processing, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, among others could be further explored.

He announced that a Ghanaian, David Adjaye had won a bid to construct a national museum in Latvia by 2021.

Mr Pildegivics therefore invited Ghana to also send a delegation to Latvia to have a further interaction leading to much trade and investment opportunities.

Mr Edward Ashong-Lartey, Director of Investor Services at GIPC who briefed the delegates on the business opportunities in Ghana, said areas including, affordable housing, agriculture, and tourism were available to be explored by investors.

He also called on the Latvians to partner Ghanaians to establish a world-standard tourism training institution that could train Ghanaians to work to meet international standard and boost the tourism sector.

Source: www.ghananewsagency.org

 

 

 

 

 

Ghana’s finance minister says investors were optimistic in meetings with senior government officials who accompanied Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to the World Bank spring meetings in Washington. In an interview with VOA, Ken Ofori-Atta said investors detected a new energy, and a sense of hope in a team that is focused on getting Ghana out of its current predicament. He also said that with a new government in place, the world is ready to see Ghana shine again in a much more stable West Africa.

“We came in on a platform of change and real hope that we will revitalize the economy and create jobs and there would be growth,” Ofori-Atta said. “But we met some pretty difficult challenges with regards to fiscal deficit close to 9 percent, lots of unemployment, growth of 3.4 percent, which was very low, and the discovery of some 7 billion Cedis [$1.3 billion] arrears that we all did not know about. Foreign exchange was low, and you also had the exchange rate in a pretty difficult situation. So we had to contend with all of that since we came [to power].”

But opposition groups say the new administration should get to work rather than complain about the state of affairs. They contend that Ghanaians displayed confidence in them by rejecting the previous government for failing to improve the lives of its citizens.

Ofori-Atta said that in just over 100 days, the government outlined its plans to jump-start the economy in a budget, which was presented to parliament. The aim, he said, is to create millions of jobs as the ruling party, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, promised ahead of the December elections.

“We decided to create a budget that is both leading to a fiscal consolidation in a real way and also not compromising growth,” Ofori-Atta said. “So we brought down the deficit as a target from 8.7 percent to 6.5. We squeaked out a primary balance surplus. We’re reducing our debt-to-GDP ratio from 72.5 to 70.9 percent, and then increase revenue by 34 percent. So, quite dramatic contraction in a sense. However, we also were clear that we needed to spur growth.”

One means to achieve their goals: abolishing some taxes.

“One of the most dramatic things was to abolish about 14 taxes, which the senior minister [Yaw Osafo Marfo] termed to be nuisance taxes,” Ofori-Atta said. “Taxes that were kind of suppressive and created a sense of cohesion by the state. As a center-right party, we have to revitalize the economy, we have to give stimulus, we have to encourage people to use their creative energies.”

Ofori-Atta also said abolishing the taxes will free Ghanaian businesses, and entrepreneurs will help to “bring Ghana back” into a working mode.

Another measure the administration plans to implement is the revitalization of the rural economy. This, he said, includes establishing a factory in each of the country’s districts, as well as sending $1 million to each constituency as a resource to support the policy of one district, one factory, which was promised by the president in the run-up to the polls.

Critics, however, say the one district, one factory promise was overly ambitious. They contend that with the dramatic reduction of taxes, government revenue would be sharply reduced, thereby handicapping the ability of the administration to raise the necessary funds it needs to keep the promises to Ghanaians. They also say the reduction of taxes was just a ploy to score political points.

But supporters of the ruling party reject the criticisms as unfounded.

Source: www.voanews.com

Ghana and the Czech Republic have signed a Double Taxation Agreement to enable nationals of both countries to pay income taxes only once to one of the countries.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, signed on behalf of Ghana, while the Czech Ambassador to Ghana, Ms. Margita Fuschova, signed on behalf of her country. 

A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in Accra explained that the agreement came after the two countries concluded negotiations for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion protocol with respect to taxes on income.

“The agreement gives investors a stable and predictable tax environment and consequently will encourage investments in both countries,” it said.

While the agreement eliminates the incidence where income from both countries are taxed twice, the protocol will increase Ghana’s Exchange of Information network, which allows treaty partners to exchange information in order to mitigate tax risk and tax evasion across borders.

The statement said tax evasion through the mutual assistance in the collection of taxes would also be reduced. 

“Furthermore, cross-border trade and investments between the two countries by the elimination of tax impediments will be greatly enhanced.

“The agreement will also foster diplomatic and other relations between the two countries,” the statement added.

Mr Ofori-Atta expressed the hope that diplomatic and economic ties would improve with the signing of the agreement.

Ms Fuschova also expressed similar sentiments, saying she looked forward to improving relations between the two countries reminiscent of the 1960s.

 Source: graphic.com.gh

The government has set the right economic tone in its first 100 days in office to signal a positive investment climate for the country to attract the right Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) to boost the economy, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Yofi Grant, has said.

He also noted that the policies outlined in the 2017 budget and the government’s economic policy had also boosted the confidence of the players in the private sector while creating the environment to spur growth and create jobs for the people.

Mr Grant said this in an interview with the Graphic Business in Accra last Tuesday, on what measures had been put in place by the government to attract more FDIs while encouraging local investors to up their game within the economy by leveraging the various policies outlined so far.

“The bold initiative by the Bank of Ghana to reduce the policy rate from 25.5 per cent to 23.5 per cent has increased confidence in the economy; we have seen the local currency strengthening in the last couple of weeks and it is expected to go down further,” he said.

According to him, a strong currency was a positive signal to investors, both local and foreign, and “we will leverage it to attract those who want to invest to come in to do so”.

He also mentioned that inflation was on a sharp decline, hovering around 13.2 per cent as of the end of February. In the same period last year, inflation was 18.5 per cent.

Tax cuts

Mr Grant said the government was able to live up to its promise of cutting taxes in many instances and reducing others in other areas, all to free up some liquidity for the private sector.

Taxes such as the 17.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on financial services, domestic air tickets and imported medicines have been scrapped, while others such as the one per cent special import levy have been removed.

Also, the excise duty on petroleum, duty on imported spare parts, levies imposed on ‘kayayei’, levies imposed on religious institutions and the five per cent VAT on real estate have been abolished under the new government.

Meanwhile, the 17.5 per cent special petroleum tax rate has been reduced to 15 per cent, while the five per cent national electrification scheme levy has also been reduced to three per cent, and the five per cent public lighting levy has been reduced to two per cent.

Mr Grant said going forward, the government would be working on other tax incentives to improve what had been done in the budget.

For instance, there are positive signs to reduce the corporate tax from 25 per cent to 20 per cent, a move which corporate Ghana strongly anticipates to free up capital for them to expand.

Earlier in the month, Mr Grant told members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Ghana in Accra that the government was considering giving 10-year tax breaks and citizenship to companies that relocated their headquarters to Ghana, among other things.

The GIPC boss said the signals sent so far were positive and gave the assurance that more were on the way.

Way forward

Mr Grant said the government, with the involvement of the GIPC, was also considering major reforms to add to the existing incentives to make the investment climate more conducive.

“We at the GIPC are holding a lot of meetings with the embassies which are making enquiries about the policies of the government to create a better business climate for the private sector and investors,” he said.

He also noted that many investors were also enquiring about the ‘one district one factory’ initiative and “we are working around the clock to ensure that the private sector truly benefits from it”.

Mr Grant said the investment tours undertaken across many parts of the world so far pointed to revived interest in the economy and gave the assurance that the government would carry out its promises to ensure that the economy grow on the back of a vibrant private sector.

Source: graphic.com.gh

The government has released GH¢465 million for the commencement of the one-district-one-factory project. It has also released GH¢256 million for the revamping of 100 private commercially viable and distressed companies throughout the country.

The Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Budget at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Padi Adjirakor, announced this in Accra yesterday.

Speaking on behalf of the sector Minister, Mr Alan Kyerematen, at the opening of the Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference, Mr Adjirakor said all businesses that qualified for the two programmes must present their proposals outlining their business plans to the ministry for the necessary action to be taken.

Background

In its 2016 manifesto, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) promised to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts to transform Ghana’s economic fortunes, while creating employment for the youth.

The initiative, otherwise known as district enterprises, is to establish medium-to-large-scale factories or industrial enterprises that have the potential to fundamentally affect the economy of the districts.

Among other things, the district enterprise is aimed at supporting existing companies, while creating new ones to create employment, as well as add value to the country’s natural resource base.

Mr. Adjirakor said the project, which was expected to kick-start any moment from now, would boost the nation’s economy, create more jobs, as well as make most districts economic giants.

AGI Lauds Government

Reacting to the announcement in an interview at the same function, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr. Seth Twum-Akwaboah, lauded the government for the bold step taken to facilitate the growth of companies in the country.

He said with the release of the money, companies that would successfully go through the selection process would be supported financially and technically.

He explained that the initiative would reduce the cost of doing business by providing shared industry resources and revenues.

Investors from Mexico

In a presentation, the Mexican Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Maria de los Angeles Arriola Aguirre, said investors from Mexico were ready to invest in areas such as agriculture, health, communication, among other areas, in Ghana. 

She, therefore, appealed to the government to put in place measures that would encourage those Mexican investors to invest in Ghana.

Source: graphic.com.gh

The Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) Awards Gala, held April 4 in Dubai, honoured investment promotion agencies from across the world for their outstanding work in driving investment into their countries.

The ceremony was held as part of the AIM 2017 at Armani Pavilion, Armani Hotel Dubai, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE.

The event was graced by Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy; Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, director General Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza); Mohamed Juma Al Musharrkh, director of Invest in Sharjah; Dr Douglas van den Berghe, CEO of Investment Consulting Associates and Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO of AIM organising committee.

With a wide group of international guests – top executives in charge of investment decisions related to participating countries and top management and entrepreneurs from leading international companies – the award gala recognises the contribution of the professional and advisory service firms, individuals and agencies in supporting foreign direct investment (FDI), said a statement.

Al Shezawi said: “FDI plays a huge role in supporting growth across all parts of the world and is a significant contributor to net job creation.”

“As such, it is time that we celebrate the achievements of these companies who attract sizeable and beneficial FDI that contribute to the economic growth and development of world markets,” he said.

In the seventh year of the Annual Investment Awards Gala, the organisers of the show have expanded the concept of the Awards to recognise the rapidly growing expansion of companies across varied regions.

As such, the winning companies were announced from all nine participating regions. Moroccan Investment Development Agency (Groupe PSA), Kingdom of Morocco, was honoured as the winner for its best investment project in 2016 in the Middle East and North Africa region.

In addition, Argentine Republic, Agencia Argentina de Inversiones y Comercio Internacional (Renova) was awarded from the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Republic of Ghana, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, from the West and Central Africa was also recognised for its enduring efforts.

Furthermore, Kenya, Kenya Investment Authority-KenInvest from East Africa, Republic of Mauritius, Board of Investment Mauritius from Southern Africa, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Ministry of Commerce and Industries (The Alokozay Group of Companies (AGC) from Central Asia, Republic of India (BRS Venture Holdings & Limited), Invest India from South, East Asia and Oceania, Slovak Republic, Sario (Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency); (Jaguar Land Rover) from Central, Eastern Europe and Turkey and Kingdom of Belgium, Flanders Investment & Trade (Sanofi) from Europe were honoured and awarded for their exceptional efforts in boosting foreign direct investments (FDI) to their countries.

Al Shezawi added: “Taking this as an opportunity, I congratulate all the winners and extend my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to all the participating companies for extending their support and cooperation in making this event memorable.”

“While we’ve lived up to our promise of facilitating the best in the industry, we promise that the future edition of the international forum will be much bigger and better,” he added.

 Source: TradeArabia News Service