The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre in partnership with the Finance and Information Ministries have launched an annual investment summit, dubbed “Spark Up”.

In 2020, $2.7 billion dollars’ worth of Foreign Direct Investments were attracted into the country.

This initiative is to stimulate conversations on how these investments accrued into the country are being implemented. It is expected to re-ignite investments in Ghana and facilitate business growth. 

The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said “this is to properly give us an opportunity to account and to see how much of the $2.7 billion have been onboarded. What are the outstanding issues for those that have been onboarded and how can all of us play a part to ensuring that those issues are dealt with so that we can fully onboard the outstanding ones?”

“Our expectation is that by the time we’re done with this, we would have all seen how we play various roles in ensuring that whatever is outstanding of the $2.7 billion, which will create 27,000 direct jobs if fully onboarded; how we see ourselves in it and how we can fully participate in unlocking the space that they are fully onboarded and then the potential and the benefits fully actualized.”

Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yofi Grant has made a call to African Countries to fully utilize the African Continental Free Trade Agreement by investing among member countries.

“The year 2020 ushered in Africa’s year. The agreement to form the AfCFTA in itself is significant. Intra-Africa investment is less than 5%, Intra-Africa trade is about 17% percent. When you compare it to other regions, it is woefully inadequate.”

“But we can actually ignite a new trend where we trade amongst ourselves, where we invest amongst ourselves and create wealth on the continent,” he stated.

The maiden edition of ‘Spark Up’ will be held on 6th September 2021.