Ghana has the most competitive business environment in West Africa – Yofi Grant

Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment and Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant, says Ghana is the most competitive business environment in West Africa.

According to him, the rhetoric in the public domain makes one believe the country is on the verge of adversity, but the right place for every investor to invest in the whole of West Africa is Ghana.

During a presentation at the second edition of The Money Summit organized by the B&FT, Mr. Grant said, "Ghana has the most competitive business environment in West Africa, and very few people acknowledge that. Sometimes when you listen to the rhetoric in the public, you might think we are on the verge of disaster, but I can tell you, I have seen some horror stories around the continent, and whenever I came back home to Ghana to work, my confidence level goes up twice more."

Mr. Yofi Grant explaining his assertion said there are three things that most investors look at before investing in your country, and Ghana can boast of all of them.

"First of all, they want to see a stable political environment. Currently, Ghana is the beacon of security and stability within the West Africa Sub-region. Secondly, the Macroeconomic environment, but unfortunately, in these times, as best as you can, we don't have all it takes to control the macroeconomic environment. Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Ghana has shown some resilient in its economy and between 2017 and 2019, for the three years, Ghana's economy was growing at an average rate of 7%, one of the highest in the world, then came the pandemic, there was a significant business disruption, lives and livelihood were affected, that virtually collapse the world's economy."

The GNPC boss further revealed that one of the most innovative and transformative policies that the government introduced to woo investors into the country is the Free Senior High Policy (SHS).

"The other is a conducive regulatory system. What policies does the government have; recently, we have had some transformative policies. We have created an ecosystem for the transformation of our economy from the export of raw materials to value-added and industrialization.

"The most transformative policy that we have in this country for me personally since independence is the Free SHS policy, why? Because in the medium term, the minimum education of the average Ghanaian will be High school education, and that's very critical for transforming any economy. In ten years, every guy you see walking on the street of Ghana will be a smart guy; he knows and can make things happen."

Last Month, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also told investors in Dubai that Ghana is the right place for them to invest because the country is nontoxic in the whole of West Africa.

Apart from the safety, Mr. Akufo-Addo said a number of initiatives have also been introduced to make business transactions easier for all.

"As part of the process of formalizing the economy, we have, amongst others, implemented a digital property address system, issued biometric national identification cards to residents so that every resident will have a unique identification number, ensure paperless transaction at our ports.

"Today, we are the safest country in West Africa; we are the largest recipients of foreign direct investments in West Africa. We are ranked 3rd in the ease of doing businesses index in West Africa.

"We are the new commercial capital of Africa by virtue of our hosting of the Secretariat of the Africa Continental Free trade Area, we are the second-largest cocoa producer in the world, we are the largest producer of gold in Africa, we are endowed with considerable deposits of bauxite, iron ore, manganese, lithium, oil and gas, diamond and timber and we are geographical, closer than any other country to the centre of the planet," he said at the Expo 2020 in Dubai.

The nation's financial sector top-brass today, Tuesday, April 26, converged at the Marriot Hotel, Accra, to discuss Africa's economic development in the context of cross-border payment systems and enhancing investor confidence at the second edition of The Money Summit organized by the B&FT.

Held in partnership with the Bank of Ghana with support from Hubtel, Letshego, AZA Finance, FBN Bank, Fidelity Bank, Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this year's iteration has as its theme 'Africa's Economic Growth – Facilitating Investment, Payments and Settlement Systems'.