The UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for International Development (DFID), Baroness Elizabeth Sugg, will visit Ghana for the third UK-Ghana Business Council (UK-GBC) meeting in Accra.

The meeting co-chaired by the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will be joined by key Cabinet ministers. This bilateral initiative and the 2019 UKGhana Compact, demonstrates our enduring commitment to Ghana and deepening existing ties and collaboration between our two countries.

The UK-GBC harnesses the UK’s clear offer to achieve long-term prosperity in Ghana. UK expertise, UK companies, UK finance and UK programmes are delivering real impact on economic development, jobs, trade and investment.

Together, the UK Government and the Government of Ghana have agreed six priority sectors - agri-processing; financial services; textiles/garments; pharma; digital; and extractives and taken the UK-GBC forum to the regions to create jobs and growth across Ghana.

“We are working side-by-side on critical enabling areas: infrastructure, domestic revenue mobilisation and ease of doing business. The outcomes from this meeting will build on existing work to create jobs and inclusive, responsible growth; enable the transfer of skills and technology; and increase UK investment, particularly as we look ahead to Ghana playing a leading role at the 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit in London,” a statement from the British High Commission in Accra said.

In addition, representatives of the London Stock Exchange and the Ministry of Finance will hold their first Working Group session to identify how Ghana can maximise the breadth and scale of UK investment from the City of London, a world leader for high quality international finance.

In the margins of the UK-GBC, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Ghana, Adam Afriyie MP, will host a dinner for UK businesses in Ghana at the headquarters of Standard Chartered Bank.

DFID Director General Nick Dyer will visit the Blue Skies Factory, a leading British exporter of fresh-cut fruit and Ghana’s largest private sector employer, and major energy infrastructure projects where UK investment has catalysed international finance.

Paul Arkwright, CEO of the UK-Africa Investment Summit, will hold a ministerial-level session to discuss Ghana’s leading role at next year’s Summit.

Speaking ahead of the Council meeting, Baroness Elizabeth Sugg said: “I am delighted to be visiting Accra for the third session of the UK-Ghana Business Council, which has fostered a new partnership between the UK and Ghana. The UK has a clear offer - based on economic development, job creation and increased trade and investment.

Similarly, clear focus is to enable Ghana to transform its economy, to create jobs, and to build an even stronger partnership with the UK based on collaboration, integrity and mutual respect. Through our shared understanding and collective effort, we can achieve real impact.”

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Iain Walker said: “The UK-Ghana Business Council meeting is driving the new strategic partnership between the UK and Ghana. We will always have an enduring relationship, built on our shared values, our people and our economic ties. Through intense engagement on both sides, we have a clear UK offer, a sharp focus on strategic priorities and a strong focus on actions that will deliver real impact, over the long-term, on economic development, jobs, trade and investment.

About the UKGBC

The UK-Ghana Business Council (UKGBC) is a biannual high-level meeting between top UK and Ghana government Officials and Ministers.

The meeting is used as a vehicle to move forward a new strategic economic partnership between the UK and Ghana that focuses on increased trade and investment and additionally emphasizes the development of priority sectors of the Ghanaian economy that leads to job creation and sustained economic growth.