President John Mahama is making a strong case for trade and investments from the country's development partners rather than just aid.

According to the President, looking at the current challenges facing Ghana, bringing in the required capital to support businesses and the economy should be seen as the best way out.

President Mahama disclosed this to newsmen on the sidelines of the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on Africa in Nairobi Kenya.

“We should encourage more from investments from Japan in Africa. Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been increasing as I said earlier. What Africa needs is trade and investment, not aid,” he said.

“And so we must translate more of this ODA into investments in Africa in respect of attracting the Japanese private sector to either set up wholly in Africa or a joint venture with their Africa partners,” President Mahama added.  

The President also spoke about how Ghana and other African countries should position themselves to benefit from the growing interest in the continent.

“I think that this new move into Africa is more in respect of investment in respect of the growing market opportunities especially as you look at Africa has the fastest growing middle class in the world,” he said.

He said this means disposable incomes are increasing and it becomes beneficial to set up businesses in Africa.

According to the President, African government should navigate this interest looking at their countries interest as a whole so they are able to make the maximum benefit out of it.

He said this should reflect in negotiations and agreements signed with multinationals,

Official Development Assistant from the Japanese government has gone up from about $800 million in 1999 to $14 billion in 2014.

Funding from the country's donors for the Budget has dropped significantly to about 20 percent.