Ursula Woos ICT Investors to Ghana

Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has told all diasporans, other nationals and Canadian organisations to take charge of the several business opportunities in Ghana and direct their investments into the country.

The Minister who described Ghana as the “land of golden opportunities” said, there are several opportunities available which will make a better investment destination of choice than its counterparts on the continent.

According to her, organisations in Canada should make it their priority to partner Ghanaian firms, some of whom she said already have footprints on the continent, to export goods and services across Africa and beyond.

The Ablekuma West lawmaker made this known when she was speaking at the Ghana-Canadian Investment Summit (GCIS) in Toronto, Canada, organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) designed specifically to engage the Ghanaian Diaspora in order to attract long-term investments and partnerships for Ghana’s development.

“Ghana is the second most visited country on the African continent for African diasporans in Canada. This means that there are several investment opportunities in Ghana for the African diaspora, and as it stands, we have just scratched the surface. Ghana’s investment climate is favorable, provides for an enabling environment that is suitable for investment in ICT, especially with several companies around the world rushing in to set up their businesses in Ghana. I want to entreat you all diasporans, other nationals and Canadian organisations to come to Ghana and invest in the land of golden opportunities” she said.

ICT Investment

She said it’ll be prudent for the business community to invest their resources into the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) space for young professionals venturing into entrepreneurship roles.

She said such investments would end up in double or triple aspect and further open other business opportunities for more returns due to the structures and progress already made in the ICT field by the Government over the period.

“The country has, over the years, trained several young professionals with marketable skills in ICT. Currently, the Government has built several Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education-focused schools to train our young ones in these areas and whip up their interest in that field as they grow.

“Ghana is also taking advantage of its status as an English-speaking country to attract business processing orders and outsourcing/back-office jobs from the USA, Canada and the rest of Europe. We currently have a large number of our ICT professionals taking on several remote jobs from other parts of the world in the comfort of their homes and delivering marvelously because they have been trained for the international job market.”

She added, “This particularly is an area that all African diasporans in Canada should be looking at investing in to boost the human capital and transform most of these young professionals into entrepreneurs in the ICT space. This, I believe, is an avenue that will steadily double or triple your investments and open other business doors for you.”

Madam Ursula further stated that partnership with local specialized institutions such as Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and other emerging technologies for capacity building for the knowledge economy is a specific investment opportunity that has prospects of higher returns.

In addition, she indicated that, “joint ventures or other arrangement with Ghanaian FinTech companies to serve largely underdeveloped sector on the continent. Business process outsourcing. Supply of high-tech telecommunications equipment. Technology Parks, mini tech hubs. Back-office operations (especially for financial institutions). Investment in key digital governance infrastructure. Investments in the last mile connectivity to improve access and drive down cost. Transaction processing. Manufacturing, assembling and supply of computers and accessories” are some specific investment opportunities for the business community.

Ghana-Canada Relationship

She reteritated the point for the Ghana-Canada relationship to develop to higher heights for progress and development to be sustained.

“Ghana has had cordial relations with Canada spanning over six decades. Over the years, the bond has been strengthened through our shared values, commonwealth and diplomatic camaraderie and bilateral trade. As fate would have it, the two countries even share a common National Day of July 1. Ghana has been a strategic partner with a substantial number of Ghanaian professionals and businesses in Canada keenly contributing to developing Canada’s economy” she added.

Summit

The GCIS brought together delegates from the international investor community, especially from Canada, venture capitalists, private equity fund managers, among others.

The participants discussed and explored viable investment opportunities within various sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

There were also collaborations with the Diaspora, Canadian investors and local entrepreneurs and the creation of awareness of the potential of Diaspora Direct Investment and the need to increase trade between Ghana and Canada.

Also present at the Summit were a number of state officials, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shelly Ayorkor Botcwey, the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Dr Awal Ibrahim Mohammed, GIPC boss, Yofi Grant and other well-known dignitaries.