- records a 139% jump in last year
- 27,110 jobs created
By Osei Owusu AMANKWAAH (owusu-amankwaah@thebftonline.com)
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is optimistic that it will rake in some US$3billion in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) inflows during 2021 after an impressive show in 2020.
With the impact of COVID-19, which saw FDIs across the globe suppressed, Ghana’s situation was the opposite with inflows for 2020 experiencing a 139 percent jump – moving from US$1.1billion in 2019 to US$2.65billion, data from centre has revealed.
A breakdown of the inflows data show that a total of 279 projects were registered within the period, dispersed across eight regions with Greater Accra registering the highest number of 231 projects; and cumulatively, some 27,110 jobs are expected to be generated.
Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, Yofi Grant – speaking at a press conference to announce the figures, said 2021 is already looking good with the first quarter recording some US$590million already.
“We have sent a target of US$3billion to the Ministry of Finance, but it is my hope that we are able to do US$5billion. We have the potential and we have to aim high. If we were able to achieve this with all the issues of COVID-19, we have to aim very high – and that is exactly what my team and I are working at. We will not stop at hitting the very top.
“With the vaccines in, the business climate will be better and we expect to attract more people in various sector of the economy,” Mr. Grant said.
For the year under review, some countries that stood out as the nation’s leading sources of investment included China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands.
In terms of sector allocation for the investments, the manufacturing sector with 57 projects recorded the largest FDI value of US$1.27billion. This was followed by the services and mining sectors with FDI values of US$656.19million and US$424.32million respectively.
On the domestic front, additional equity (cash and goods) totalling US$69.28million was ploughed back as investment from 172 already existing companies, whereas US$250.68million was obtained from 52 wholly Ghanaian-owned ventures.
While this trend of strong performance in Ghana’s inbound FDI amid the global health pandemic can be attributed to a combination of factors including effective government policy responses, an easing of travel restrictions and, more importantly, the delivery and expected future development of vaccines in-country – the GIPC’s notable efforts as the leading investment promotion agency also played a pivotal role in attracting investors.
Moreover, as Ghana steps into an era of liberalised trade under the AFCFTA, there’s even stronger commitment from the centre to boost investor confidence and ultimately harness valuable investments for Ghana, now Africa’s business capital.
The trend defied an anticipated steep decline in FDI flows as a second wave of COVID-19 infections threatened to cripple the Ghanaian economy. A report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development placed the pandemic-induced decline in global FDI at 42 percent.
The fall was however highly uneven across developing regions: -37 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, -18 percent in Africa and -4 percent in developing countries of Asia. While Ghana had initially witnessed a plateau in FDI inflows during the first wave of infection and its ensuing lockdowns, investments well along saw a rebound on the back of government policy responses to mitigate impacts of the health pandemic on businesses.
