Italy to support Ghanaian SMEs with €20m

The government of Italy will support Ghanaian Small and Medium and Enterprises (SMEs) with 20 million Euros, under the Ghana Private Sector Development Facility (GPSDF).

The two countries have also pledged to deepen economic ties between them, and to remove all outstanding bottlenecks to ensure rapid disbursement of the amount to beneficiary SMEs.

India to Invest in Ghana Sugar Factory

The Indian government, through the EXIM Bank of India, last year agreed to grant a loan of US$35 million to Ghana to fund the construction of a new sugar factory at Komenda in the Central Region of Ghana.

The project, which is expected to create around 400 jobs as well as benefiting more than 2,000 farmers, is due to commence in July.

Rakinder Bhagat, the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, during a visit to Trade and Industry Minister Haruna Iddrisu in Accra recently said that an initial 30% of the funds would be released as soon as the contract is finalized. Mr. Bhagat said that India was committed to strengthening bilateral relations with Ghana.

Foreigners Confident to Invest in Ghana

Confidence is high among foreign investors looking to invest in Ghana. The country’s economy is showing strong growth, and the number of registered investments grew by 6.42% in the first three quarters of last year, totaling 305 projects valued at $4.97 billion.

VP Calls on Italians to Invest in Ghana

Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, 61, the vice president of Ghana since 2012, last week called on Italian businesses to invest in Ghana, saying that the country’s economic prospects are high.

The economist and politician, who has previously worked as Governor of the Bank of Ghana, made the call as Laura Carpini, the new Italian Ambassador to Ghana visited him at the Flagstaff House in the capital Accra to introduce herself.

Ghana - a successful African nation

Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains somewhat dependent on international financial and technical assistance as well as the activities of the large number of Ghanaians living and working abroad. Gold, timber, cocoa, diamond, bauxite, and manganese exports are major sources of foreign exchange. An oilfield which is reported to contain up to three billion barrels of light oil was discovered in 2007.This discovery may not only help offset the current high cost of oil imports but may in time generate large revenues for the country.

The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 50% of GDP and employs 85% of the work force, mainly small landholders.

Ghana has made good economic progress under a three-year structural adjustment program in cooperation with the IMF. Ghana remains one of the more economically sound countries in all of Africa.

India firm to invest $65m in Ghana

Indian firm Harrisons Malayalam is reportedly considering plans to develop rubber plantations on 4,000-5,000 hectares of land in Ghana on long-term lease basis.

The R.P.-Sanjiv Goenka group-owned tea and plantations company says it would invest nearly Rs 300 crore which is equivalent to about $65 million to set up the plantations, said N. Dharmaraj, Executive Director of Harrisons Malayalam, the Hindu BusinessLine reported February 22, 2013.

UN celebrates Andean “super food”

Quinoa can play an important role in eradicating hunger, malnutrition and poverty, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said yesterday at the official launch of the International Year of Quinoa at UN Headquarters.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Evo Morales of Bolivia and First Lady Nadine Heredia Alarcón de Humala of Peru were among the high-level participants in a day-long series of events celebrating the Andean "super food", a highly nutritious, cereal-like crop that is rich in protein and micronutrients.

KPMG Report Highlights Reasons to Invest in Ghana

World Bank projections indicate that Ghana, which began exporting oil in 2011, will have the
fastest growth rate on the continent, estimated at 13.4% in 2011 and 10.4% in 2012 (World Bank Global Economic prospects 2011).

Andre Rafnsson, director of Growth Green Agriculture, an agricultural investment company, highlights the findings of an in-depth report published by KMPG titled "Doing Business in Ghana" as strong reasons to invest in Ghana.

Growth Green Agriculture Asks: Why Invest in Ghana?

With strong, broad-based economic growth for close to two decades, Ghana today has reason to be optimistic. The country has enjoyed two peaceful democratic transitions, with a strong civil society and media playing active roles. Ghana also remains on course to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015, with economic growth averaging 6–7 percent since 2005. (World Bank)

Investment opportunities in Ghana are 'growing exponentially'

The stable democratic atmosphere and the discovery of oil reserves in 2010 have made Ghana the fastest growing economy in the West African Sub region. "Millions of dollars are being realised by private entrepreneurs...and in the past decade there has been an improvement in Ghana's infrastructure with better prospects for growth still to come." says Kenneth Ofori, business manager for Devtraco Plus, a luxury real estate company in Ghana.

UN food agencies staff in Mozambique receive an Award of Excellence

Rome – In acknowledgement of the importance of partnership in tackling global issues, the staff of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have today been recognized for their outstanding work together in Mozambique.
Over the past several years, the UN food agencies’ country teams have collaborated effectively to help improve the country’s food security situation.

Agricultural Investment needed to promote Agro-Forestry, says FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says millions of people could escape poverty, hunger and environmental degradation if countries put more effort into promoting agro-forestry, an integrated approach combining trees with crop or livestock production.
The agro-forestry sector is a significant source both of local commodities such as fuel wood, timber, fruit and fodder for livestock as well as global ones such as coconut, coffee, tea, rubber and gum.

Growth Green Agriculture: Dutch company set to invest in Ghana

Louis Dreyfus Commodities, a global merchandiser of commodities and food processing, said it would invest in Ghana to ensure food sufficiency and create jobs.
“With more than 160 years of experience, our portfolio has grown to include oilseeds, grains, feed, rice, freight, finance, juice, cotton, coffee, sugar, metals, dairy and fertilizer,” Mrs Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, Chairman of the Group of Companies, said.

New GIPC boss hired to encourage companies to Invest in Ghana

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama on January 20, 2013 named Ms Mawuena Dumor Trebah, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).

She replaces Mr George Aboagye who resigned late last year. Ms Trebah, was a former head of Corporate Services at MTN Ghana.

The GIPC is a government agency that seeks to encourage, promote and facilitate investments in the country.

Ghana’s development partners asked for more direct investments

Ghana Business News » Ghana’s development partners asked to undertake more direct investments

Growth Green Agriculture Plc is a UK based agricultural investments company specialising in emerging markets offering lucrative opportunities to invest in Ghana. +Growth Green Agriculture acts as consultant on green and socially responsible investments to the private and institutional investor community in Europe.

Oil Giant Has Big Plans to Invest in Ghana

Global oil giant KOSMOS Energy has announced plans to invest in Ghana with over $275 million being allocated from it's planned capital program for its operations in Ghana and other parts of the globe.

KOSMOS is one of the partners on Ghana’s Jubilee oil field. Their plan to invest in Ghana centres on development activities offshore and amounts to approximately 55% of the total budget, with a further $225 million allocated for exploration and appraisal activities across KOSMOS’ global exploration portfolio.