Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, says Ghana is ready to welcome investors from the United States of America into her industrial s
Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, says Ghana is ready to welcome investors from the United States of America into her industrial sector to drive government’s agenda in that regard.
Addressing attendees of trade and investment roundtable discussions on US-Ghana investment opportunities organized by the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia, USA, on Friday 16 September 2022, Alan Kyerematen said Ghana is pursuing an industrialization agenda never seen in its history as a country and the time is right for American investments in the space.
“For us in Ghana, we have not been apologetic about this. We have embarked on a very comprehensive and ambitious programme for industrial transformation.
If not for anything at all, we know that it will help us deal with a number of things. One, it will help us deal with the problem of unemployment. Two, it will help us earn more foreign exchange,” Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen said.
According to Mr Kyerematen, “It is when you earn more foreign exchange that you are able to support your own currency and the foreign exchange you earn supports the development of infrastructure in your economy”.
“In Ghana, at the centre of our development agenda is promoting exports. But if you promote exports and end up using all your export earnings to import everything else, then you are back to ground zero,” he added.
AfCFTA
Touching on the opportunities that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement offers potential US investors in Ghana and the rest of Africa, Mr Kyerematen noted that the new free trade area offers investors enormous business opportunities.
“For us, this [AfCFTA] is the game-changer and that is why we think there could not have been a better time than now to attract foreign direct investments particularly from the United States of America into Ghana.
“What this [AfCFTA] means is that if you locate a manufacturing facility in Ghana, you can export your goods duty-free, quota-free to the entire continent of Africa,” Trade and Industry Minister Allan Kyerematen said.
Priority sectors
As part of Ghana’s quest to develop her industrial sector, My Kyerematen indicated that government has identified several priority sectors it believes will help drive the agenda.
They are the petrochemical industry, bauxite and aluminium, iron and steel, chemicals, pharmaceutical, garment and textiles, agro-processing and manufacturing of machine and equipment.
The Trade Minister urged participants of the trade and investment roundtable discussions to consider the priority areas as the various gateways to investing in Ghana’s industrial sector.
Officials
Other state officials and heads of institutions who attended the event are; Deputy Minister for Transport, Hassan Tampuli; Board Chairman of Ghana Enterprises Agency, Sylvester Tetteh; CEO of Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Dr. Afua Asabea Asare; CEO of PSC Tema Shipyard, Dr. Alex Yaw Adusei, and Board Member of GHPA, Mr. Imoru Ayarna.
Wilberforce Asare
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