Ghana’s position as a historical pillar of stability has made the country a hub for investment in the region, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, told CNN’s Richard Quest on Friday.
“Ghana has been a pillar of stability, a legacy Nkrumah started in 1957. We are currently the headquarters of [the] African Continental Free Trade Area, which is a next wave of independence with regard to trade and investment,” Ofori-Atta said.
He added, “And you note that Twitter was able to come here [Ghana] as a result of this type of aggressive outward positions that we’ve taken.”
Ofori-Atta said the new independence is borne out by decisions of tech giants such as Google (AI) and Twitter to choose Ghana as their regional headquarters.
The presence of AfCFTA’s secretariat in Accra is also attracting international attention, and, said the minister, this is because of steps taken since 2017, when “Ghana went through the headwinds and built a resilient economy which grew at an average 6% in the three consecutive years prior to the pandemic”.
He added: “We built a resilient economy before the pandemic. Whilst the whole of Africa recorded a recession and contraction of about -2%, Ghana recorded a positive growth of 0.4% in 2020. Going forward, the president led us to put together the Ghana CARES programme, a GHC100 billion CARES Programme to revitalise our economy, and also use the AfCFTA as a springboard to make Ghana a regional hub.
“We know Twitter decided to come here because of the aggressive outward position. We will continue to create a great business environment where assembling and manufacturing of VW and Toyota cars solidify our position as the gateway to Africa,” he told Richard Quest.
Speaking to Asaase Business after the CNN interview, Ofori-Atta said that “it is important to appreciate the Ghana Beyond Aid vision, which is highlighted by a set of forward-looking policies like our One District, One Factory initiative. Digitalisation efforts, the strengthening of our banking sector, etc, appeared tailor-made for purpose even before the official rollout of the AfCFTA.
“Twitter’s decision to set up shop in Ghana is a direct message to producers of goods and services on the need to set up base in Africa in order to take advantage of the fast-integrating economies and how Africa itself is determined to buy more from each other, and what Ghana is doing, by way of industrialisation, to position herself as a hub,” Ofori-Atta said.
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