GIPC to transform into economic development agency

Accra, Nov 29, - The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) would be in the long-term transformed into an economic development agency to create its operational efficiency, Mr Yofi Grant, its Chief Executive Officer, has said.

“We want to become more than an investment promotion agency and in developing the economy we need to have an anchor institution that will enable sustenance of investment and growth of investment,” he stated.

He said Singapore, Rwanda and Mauritius all had similar institutions and it and time the country envisaged such transformation for economic consolidation.

Mr Grant said this in Accra at a Business Meeting on the theme: “Foreign Direct Investments-Making Ghana a Preferred Option in Africa”. It was organised by the Institute of Directors, Ghana and supported by Interplast Limited.

He said the centre also planned to integrate data access and share across Ministries to facilitate investment; as well as drive aggressively investment policy towards the country’s growth agenda.

The CEO said in the medium-term, the Centre was committed to expanding into a one-stop shop to facilitate investment and becoming more competitive in the World Bank index of doing business since the country was ranked 120 out of 190 countries.

He said Ghana’s Foreign Direct Investment averaged 2.5 billion dollars to three billion dollars annually.

This, he said, it targeted to increase to 10 billion annually, backed by the achievement of macro-economic stability and economic growth.

“The vision of the centre is to develop strong linkages and partnerships with indigenous business to enable a clear correlation between investment and economic growth and position the country as the premium investment and business destination in Africa,” he said.

“We would position the country as the regional business, financial, investment hub for West Africa”.

Mr Grant said the Centre had embarked on rigorous reforms to improve the business climate and attract investors into the country.

He explained that the country was a preferred destination for business because of its strong democratic culture with a record of perfect transitions and exchange of power between political parties.

“Ghana remains committed to stimulating investment to deliver sustainable development to the country by spearheading investment reforms and promoting innovation and trade,” he explained.

Mr Frederick Ofosu Darko, President of Institute of Directors, said the Institute was established, among others, to provide opportunities to network and share ideas on the national agenda with stakeholders in corporate governance.

The Institute presented a certificate to Mr Grant for the presentation, while Dr Oteng Gyasi, the Managing Director of Tropical Cables, was presented with a certificate as an honorary fellow.  Other members received certificates as fellows.

GNA