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Ghana is model business destination in West Africa
– delegation
Accra, June 12, Ghanadot/GNA – A French private business
delegation on a three-day working visit to Ghana on
Wednesday declared its intention to do more business in
Ghana, saying Ghana is by far a model business destination
in the West African sub-region.
Mr. Patrick Lucas, President of the Movement of French
Enterprises (MEDEF) Africa, said the 800,000 enterprises had
observed the stability and consistent growth of the Ghanaian
economy over the past few years with admiration and had
decided to increase its participation in the country’s
success story.
Currently, there are 60 French business establishments in
Ghana and France is 11th on the list of international
investors in Ghana, but fifth on the list of Ghana’s
overseas clients.
“We see the stability and growing economy of Ghana and we
have decided to do better in terms of investment in this
country,” he told journalists.
Mr. Lucas is at the head of a delegation that comprises top
executives of various sectors including energy, electricity,
agriculture, information and communication technology,
packaging, insurance, shipping, telecommunications, banking,
water, transport, engineering and public works.
The delegation is in Ghana to look for more investment
opportunities in their respect sectors. They paid a similar
visit to Cote d’Ivoire before coming to Ghana.
In Ghana they have held separate meetings with President
John Agyekum Kufuor, Minister of Finance, Mr. Kwadwo
Baah-Wiredu, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Paul Acquah
and the Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion
Centre, Mr. Robert Ahumkah-Linsey to discuss specific areas
of economic relations and investment.
They would sign a memorandum of understanding with the
Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF) that would bring
technical assistance and training in the areas of handling
the issue of employment.
Mr. Lucas noted that Ghana was on top of the list of
countries that the French private sector wanted to do more
business with, saying, “we want to be a major player in this
country”.
He noted that commercial flows between France and Ghana
increased by 25 per cent last year alone, which was an
indication of growing trade between the two countries.
“We intend to capitalise on that and participate even deeper
in your economy to ensure that our score on your investment
sheet will rise from 11th to a better place soon,” he said.
Mr. Pierre Jacquemot, the French Ambassador, noted that
France was a major sponsor of Ghana’s National
Identification System (NIS), with a sum of US$30 million,
adding that, a consortium of five French companies would by
next month sign a big contract with the Ghana government to
invest in Ghana’s electricity sector.
Touching on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Mr
Jacquemot said the problem with the EPA was poor
communication on the part of the EU, adding that, the EPA
was not going to lead to loss of revenue to less developed
countries (LDCs) as widely claimed by its critics.
Mr Philippe Gautier, Head of Africa, Europe Department of
MEDEF, said there was poor communication on the EPA,
pointing out that trade issues arising from the EPA were
based on World Trade Organisation (WTO) directives and not
the EPA itself.
“As private business in France we fully support the EPA
because years of billions of dollars of grants to less
developed countries based on Lome and Cotonou agreements
have proved ineffective but the EPA, which allows imports
from LDCs (Least Developed Countries) to come to the EU on
tariff-free basis, promises to serve a better purpose,” he
said.
GNA
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