The Questions
1. What opportunities exist for investors in your country?
2. What are the challenges facing investors?
3. What advice would you offer investors?
4. What is government doing and what needs to be done to improve the investment climate?
5. How can the financial sector help in facilitating investment in your country?
1 There are many opportunities but I would recommend agro-processing, manufacturing, real estate and mass transportation.
2 Some of the challenges are difficulties associated with land ownership and limited infrastructure, particularly the poor state of the electricity and telecommunication sectors and bad roads. However, these are being addressed through the government’s adoption of public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure development.
3 If the challenges and difficulties can be properly managed, returns on investment in Ghana are far higher than in most sub-Saharan African countries.
4 The relationship between the government and the private sector has never been so good. For the first time in the history of this country, a ministry for private sector development has been set up to work with the private sector.
The government is improving the investment climate through good governance; improving company law; strengthening the legal and regulatory framework; and ensuring a free and independent media. It is now a great friend to genuine investors and has declared this period the “Golden Age of Business” for the private sector.
5 Ghana’s financial system has improved dramatically during the past four years, although there is still room for improvement, particularly with regard to investment in information technology. The government is seriously looking into aspects of off-shore banking, which would add an interesting new dimension to the financial market.