GIPC Organizes First Ever Garments And Textiles Investment Meeting

With the  popularity gained by the local textiles and garments industry in recent times comes the task of elevating the industry to a more lucrative one. With that mantra, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is keen on raising valuable Foreign Direct Investment for the industry through its upcoming Garments and Textiles Investment Meeting themed ” The future of garments and textiles in Ghana’s industrialisation drive”.

The two day virtual meeting, set for the 4th and 5th of November (10am-12pm each day) will create a platform for the GIPC and key stakeholders in the garments and textiles industry, namely; the Association of Ghana Apparel Manufacturers (AGAM) and the Cotton Development Authority to discuss a plethora of issues akin to the industry.

Key among the issues to be discussed are industry insights and policies, finding practical solutions to challenges peculiar to the Ghanaian textile and garment industry as well as exploring the  essence of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement to the industry.

From an investment perspective,  the Centre will lead discussions on how to leverage the enormous potential of the local garments and textiles industry to lure in needed investment and financial support.

Speaking on the upcoming event, the Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC Yofi Grant reference that Ghana’s garments and textiles industry is an age-old one with budding potential for revenue generation and job creation and it’s about time significant funding was directed to the industry.

Owing to the Ghanaian’s sense of pride and claim to our local textiles and garments,  the virtual program will be open for public participation by registering on https://ecneventsghana.com/gipc-gatim2020/signup.

Together, let’s “Grow in Ghana and Grow with Ghana”.

Source: GIPC

Ghana Investment Promotion Centre is the Best Investment Promotion Agency In West and Central Africa for 2020

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre has once more been awarded the Best Investment Promotion Agency in West and Central Africa by the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) Investment awards 2020 having earned the top position as Winner from West and Central Africa for the Project- PE Power Limited.

This will be the fifth consecutive year that the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre has clinged this very prestigious award and the Center is very much gratified and honored.

Having been acknowledged five consecutive times not only endorses the Center as being the best and finest among its peers but also an endorsement for the diligent and notable efforts by the government of Ghana to establish a conducive business environment comparable to none on the continent. “This is a clear indication that we are on the right path to establishing Ghana as the preferred destination for foreign Direct Investments , critical to the realization of a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ said the Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC Yofi Grant.

The project, P.E Power Ltd which was submitted for the award, as the name suggests is a project within the Energy sector. It was registered in 2019 as a joint venture between Americans, British, Israeli, and Mauritanian investors valued at US$ 551,000,000. It is the operations and maintenance Company for the Amandi Energy Limited power plant, located at Aboadze in the Western Region of Ghana.

Besides the sizeable value of the investment, The P.E Power project will create some 67 direct jobs and several indirect jobs when fully operational. Its therefore not surprising, the project emerged as top scorer among the several projects submitted by other IPA’s.

According to Mr Grant, the receipt of this award will serve as further encouragement for the GIPC to work relentlessly at making Ghana a destination of Choice for Investments in Africa. “Although the recent months have been one of great economic turmoil globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ghana has demonstrated excellent leadership in managing the crisis and the GIPC continues to assure the investor community that our economy will remerge much more resilient when the dust settles post the pandemic” he added.

The award comes on the back of the GIPC’s sterling half year performance, where a total of US$785.62 million was recorded as Foreign Direct Investments into Ghana between January and June 2020 despite the economic challenges posed by the Corona virus pandemic.

The Annual Investment Meeting (AIM), an initiative from the UAE Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, is the World’s leading Investment-focused event aimed at enriching institutional, corporate and individual investors with relevant information for future investment decisions in high growth regions.

This year’s event was under the theme “Reimagining Economies: The Move Towards a Digital, Sustainable and Resilient Future,” and it came off from the 20th-22nd October 2020. It was the very first digital edition of the Annual Investment Meeting, featuring the use of virtual technology to generate, showcase, and facilitate the most attractive and secure investment projects and opportunities for investors from different parts of the world.

The three-day digital event was well patronized by Ministries and Government Departments, International and Regional Organisations, Investment Promotion Agencies, Special Economic Zones, Private Equities, Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists, Startups, Incubators, SME Financing Institutions, Smart City Solution Providers, and Technology Providers, among others, from more than 170 countries.

AIM Digital highlighted AIM’s six pillars – Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign Portfolio Investment, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Startups, Future Cities, and One Belt, One Road through different features such as Conference, Exhibition, Digital Country Presentation, Startups Virtual Pitch Competition, Conglomerate Presentations, Awards, Investors’ Hub, Regional Focus Sessions, Made in Series, Investment Roundtables, and Networking Features.

Source: GIPC

FDI Inflow Begins to Rebound As Ghana Records FDI Of 785.62 Million Dollars In First Half Of 2020

Ghana has recorded total investments of US$869.47 million, with total FDI value amounting to US$785.62 million between January to June 2020 as FDI inflow showed rare strength in the final moments of the second quarter of the year, undeterred by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The total FDI of US$785.62 million represents investment recorded by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) and the Petroleum Commission.

Worldwide, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has estimated that the Covid-19 pandemic to send global FDI plunging by about 40 percent – driving the total value of FDI below US$1 trillion for the first time since 2005. However, in spite of a sluggish start in the first quarter of 2020 and a worrying slump in the beginning of the second quarter due to severe lockdown measures to contain the spread of the corona virus,  FDI to Ghana have begun to rebound resulting in a notable increase in FDI inflow for the first half of the year.

At the GIPC, a total of 69 projects with a total estimated value of US$688.74 million  was recorded by the end of June 2020. Of this, the total FDI component amounted to US$627.52 million while local component accounted for an estimated US$61.22 million. The FDI value of US$627.52 million was a considerable increase of about 409.10 percent from last year’s FDI value of US$123.26 million recorded within the same period (Jan-Jun 2019), depicting a strong performance irrespective of the global pandemic.

Out of the 69 projects recorded, the services sector registered a majority of 25 projects followed by the manufacturing and export trade sector with 21 and 11 projects respectively. With regards to value, general trading recorded the highest amount of US$246.05 million. This was tailed closely by the mining exploration sector with US$231.02 million having sealed some major investments such as the Chirano Gold mine project for the exploration of minerals. The manufacturing sector also saw significant investments valued at US$170.67 million on the back of some notable ventures such as a deal by Matrix industries for the manufacture of paper and aluminum products as well as the Rainbow Paints Limited project which is a joint venture between Ghana and Kenya for the manufacturing of paints and related products.

Geographically, the spread of the projects cuts across 6 regions namely, Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Ashanti and Volta regions with most projects registered in the Greater Accra enclave. Together, the 69 projects are expected to make significant contribution to job creation in the country. Per estimations, a total of 14,614 jobs are expected to be created when the projects are fully operational. Out of this, 14,052 of the jobs representing 96.15 % will be for Ghanaians whilst the remainder of 562 jobs which represents 3.85% will be taken up by foreigners.

Meanwhile, additional equity totaling US$11.56 million was re-invested by existing companies within the first half of the year, while a total of GHC1,365.26 million was recorded as investments from 28 wholly owned Ghanaian businesses.

The seemingly positive performance of FDI inflows to the country has been to an extent attributed to the gradual easing of the Covid-19 restrictions as well as government initiatives and incentives rolled out to buffer businesses and the economy at the height of the pandemic.

Regardless of the upbeat performance, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) predicts that FDI will continue to see a decline of 5-10 percent in 2021 with a slow recovery to be initiated in 2022 driven by restructuring of global Value Chains and a general rebound of the global economy.

In this regard, the GIPC remains cautiously optimistic about the flow of FDI to Ghana, as we move forward. That notwithstanding, the Center will continue to assiduously pursue worthwhile investments for economic development as well as support government initiatives such as the COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Support (CARES) Programme to help bolster the Ghanaian economy towards a recovery and remain resilient pre and post pandemic.

Source: GIPC