Indians repose confidence in Ghana’s economy —pledge to double investments
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh
The free fall of the Ghanaian cedi and the upcoming tension-packed general elections have not deterred Indian business executives from increasing their investments in the West African country.
To this end, over 200 business leaders, accompanying Mr. Anand Sharma, Indian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, have converged at Accra International Trade Fair, Ghana, for a three-day ‘India Show’ which began yesterday. The ‘India Show’, which is underway, is an exhibition and conference, being put up by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), with the support of the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, and External Affairs.
The ‘India Show‘ is being partnered by the ECOWAS and the counterpart Chambers of Commerce and Industry across the West African sub-region, will rollout “Brand India” to West Africa, as many Indian businesses are taking part in the trade fair.
Opening the ‘India Show’ in Accra, yesterday, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Miss Hannah Tetteh said “holding the fair in this election year is a vote of confidence in the Ghanaian economy”.
With Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which stood at 14.4% in 2011 and sustained macroeconomic development, Ghana is a good place to invest, Ms Tetteh told the Indian and ECOWAS business leaders.
The sector Minister assured the Indian investors that the ECOWAS sub-region was poised for business partnerships and urged them to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that abound in the sub-region.
On his part, the Indian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Mr. Anand Sharma noted that in spite of the global economic turmoil, ECOWAS sub-region was growing at an incredible rate.
According to him, it was important for Africa and Asia to sustain their growth, so as to erase the painful colonial periods. With the South-South co-operation, the African and Asian continents would be able to the sustain growth in their countries.
The Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E Mr. Rajinder Bhagat revealed that trade figures between India and Ghana had recorded $818million in 2010, depicting an increase of 52%, as against 2009.
The India show brought the biggest Indian business delegation to ever visit Africa, and comprise of representatives from sectors including agriculture, health, infrastructure, mining and minerals, ICT, construction, energy, pharmaceuticals, and education.
Ghana was chosen to hold the ‘India Show’ because of its economic and political stability; rich natural resource base; modern, vibrant and fast growing financial sector; and gateway to the ECOWAS market of 240 million people.
The objectives of the ‘India Show’, according to the organizers seek to promote partnerships for trade, joint ventures, technology transfer and investments from India and the ECOWAS sub-region.
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