Source: newsthemegh.com
An appeal has been made for businesses to take advantage of the many opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in order for the continent to become the world’s savior in times of crisis as the three-day Ghana Investment and Trade Week Summit got underway in Accra under the sponsorship of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) in partnership with MIE Group.
Speaking on the subject of “Accelerating Economic Growth: Strengthening Ghana’s Global Market Footprint,” The CEO of GIPC, Mr. Yofi Grant, referred to the event through AfCFTA as a historic summit that brought together investors, merchants, policymakers, and exhibitors for the economic and political growth of the African continent.
He claims that yearly intra-African commerce has not exceeded 15%, while intra-African investment, which primarily comes from North and Southern African nations, has not exceeded 5%.
According to Mr. Grant, the AfCFTA offers a fantastic chance to improve the situation so that small firms across the continent can conduct cross-border business.
However, Mr. Grant emphasized that the AfCFTA presents a very significant but immense chance to change those patterns, as well as an opportunity for African economies in particular, the majority of which are dominated by SMEs and SMIs.
He claimed that the free trade area is anticipated to boost intra-African commerce by about 33 percent while decreasing its trade imbalance by 51 percent.
Afreximbank and other Ghanaian banks have developed a pan-African payment infrastructure to facilitate commerce between companies, according to the GIPC boss.
He clarified that the payment system enables companies to process payments using the native currencies of the locations where they are located.
He claimed that this would encourage the creation of jobs, particularly for young people across the continent.
With great optimism, Mr. Grant predicted that in the coming decade, the continent of Africa, which is home to at least 40% of the world’s remaining mineral resources, particularly the transition minerals, will serve as the world’s engine and savior. He urged everyone to work together to make this prediction a reality.
In the coming ten years, he said, “I have no doubt in my mind that Africa would save the world.”
According to him, Ghana is driven by two factors: target 1 and goal 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which place an emphasis on eradicating poverty and building global partnerships for trade links.
According to him, Ghana has the chance to be the change it wishes to see by seizing the moment and all of its benefits by hosting the AFCFTA Secretariat.
He claimed that in order to increase its competitiveness, the nation is following important initiatives like One District One Factory Ghana and trying to modernize its road and rail infrastructure.
Zahoor Ahmed, vice president of MIE Group, a significant summit partner, reaffirmed his organization’s commitment to fostering relationships with important parties in order to increase participation and bring a larger focus to next Ghana Investment Trade summits.
In a speech, Emmanuel T. Martey, a representative of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industries, made the case for using the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to build the nation’s infrastructure because the federal government cannot do it all by itself.
At the conclusion of the summit, he emphasized the necessity for extraordinary efforts to achieve excellence and the creation of a plan with achievable deadlines to guide policy decisions.
Fireside chats with Ambassador Edward Boateng, CEO of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), and panel talks on the role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in becoming economic superhighways are just a few of the events commemorating the three-day summit.
The South African High Commissioner to Ghana, the Chief Executive Officers of the Ghana Free Zones Authority and SIGA, Ambassador Edward Boateng, and the Pakistani Ambassador to Ghana all attended the ceremony.
The summit’s topic is Amplifying Ghana’s Global Market Footprint Through AfCFTA: Accelerating Economic Growth.