Ghana and Finland have signed a framework agreement for a trade and investment mission on Monday, September 19, in Helsinki, Finland.

The projects are to be funded under Finland’s Public Sector Investment Facility (PIF) Scheme, on the margins of a trade and investment mission to Finland by a business delegation from Ghana.

Finland’s Public Sector Investment Facility (PIF) Scheme, is a Finnish financing instrument designed to support public sector investments in developing countries in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, utilizing Finnish technology and expertise.

The purpose of the PIF Scheme is to provide additional financing for projects acceptable to Finland in
accordance with the OECD Arrangement on Guidelines for Officially Supported Export Credits.

As stated earlier, the ceremony took place on the margins of an ongoing trade and investment mission to Finland and to two other Scandinavian countries namely Denmark and Sweden by a business delegation.

The Mission was organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre in collaboration with the Embassies of Ghana in Oslo and Denmark, to showcase Ghana’s vast business potential and pursue bilateral trade and investment opportunities in the areas of ICT, education, energy and circular economy - waste management, bio-economy and clean technology.

Ghana is also seeking to explore potential investment opportunities and help create a network of buyers,
agents, suppliers and key government contacts.

The sixty-six-member business delegation comprising the public and private sectors is led by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong.

Other high-level government officials include the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Herbert Krapa; the Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ama Pomaa Boateng; the CEO of EXIM Bank of Ghana, Lawrence Agyinsam; the CEO of Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Dr Afua Asabea Asare; the CEO of Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication, Prince Sefah; the Deputy CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yaw Amoateng Afriyie; the Ag. Director-General of Cyber
Security Authority, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, and the Ambassador of Ghana to Finland, Jennifer Lartey.

While in Finland, the high-level government officials have held Government-to-Government bilateral meetings with Ministers, CEOs and Officials of selected Finnish institutions including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Business Finland, SITRA and FINNERVA, whose focus areas include investment, trade, digitalization, green energy transformation, smart inclusive cities, sustainable mining, and circular economy among others.

The meetings have afforded the officials the opportunity to learn from their Finnish counterparts including the possibility of attracting Finnish companies operating in these sectors to invest in Ghana. The
engagements have also served as a springboard to further deepen the already existing cordial bilateral relations between Ghana and Finland.

The Ghana-Finland Business Forum, which is taking place on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, will also provide the platform for Ghana to be showcased as the most attractive investment destination in West Africa and to also urge Finnish companies to partner with their Ghanaian counterparts.

The Forum will be followed by business-to-business and business-to-government meetings that will provide an opportunity for the various private sector institutions from Ghana and Finland to engage with each other for possible collaboration in their sectors of operations.