Ghana is a beacon on the African continent — Norwegian Foreign Minister
Norwegian Foreign Minister, Mr Borge Brende yesterday told members of the Norwegian- African Business Association (NABA) that Ghana is a beacon on the African continent with leadership in governance, rule of law and political stability.
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That, he said, provided a secure investment environment to do business and reap benefits thereof.
He said Africa had moved from a continent of hopelessness to one of hope, with countries such as Ghana providing leadership.
Summit
Mr Brende was addressing the NABA 2014 Summit in Oslo, Norway where President Mahama is currently on a state visit. President Mahama and his delegation attended the summit on the theme, "Mapping the African Infrastructural Landscape".
He said through such good leadership based on rule of law and good governance, Ghana had moved from a poor country to a lower middle income country.
Mr Brende said the global community was now heeding the call of Africa for partnership and trade instead of aid.
Africa, he said, was predicted to register a 5.5 per cent growth, while Europe recorded an anaemic one per cent.
President Mahama
President Mahama told the gathering that Ghana was investing more in energy generation and distribution because power supply remained a big challenge to development in Africa.
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He said the government sought to generate 200 MW of power every year to meet the 12 per cent demand with the ultimate of generating more for the West African pool.
He said although infrastructure remained a big challenge to development, it provided opportunities for investors to take advantage of to invest.
President Mahama said the resort to the IMF for assistance was because the country depended so much on gold and cocoa exports and anytime there was a slum in prices on the international market, it affected countries such as Ghana.
He said the success of the Euro bonds sales and the Ghana Cocoa Board’s syndication of international financing showed that there was high confidence of the international investor community in Ghana.
That, he said, should send a message that the problem was more of macro-economics which the country was seeking the IMF assistance to deal with.
MCC Compact
President Mahama said the government recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US government for a second compact of the Millenium Challenge Corporation to boost the energy sector.
He said it only tied into the government's belief that energy supply was a constraint to economic growth.
He said there were lot of investment opportunities in Ghana and gave the assurance of profit repatriation.
He urged investors to consider investing in the infrastructural sectors, since there were great opportunities for investment returns.
President Mahama said the government was creating more space for the private sector and urged investors to take opportunities in the pharmaceutical and other service sectors as well.