Investment Destination: Ghana

I decided to write a series of posts on Africa. This is meant to dispel the bad taste the “Sh*t hole” comment made by the US president last week. I have earlier written a post on South Africa here. Today's post is on Ghana.

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The West African Country of Ghana has a population of approximately 27 million. It has a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. Its main cities are Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale.
Ghana has gained the world's confidence with a peaceful political transition and a grounded and firm commitment to democracy. It remains one of the few African countries to be visited by three successive US presidents i.e. Bill Clinton, George bush and Barack Obama.

Why invest in Ghana?
Investing in ghana is considered a smart move. The reasons are as follows;
• A hub to reach over 400 million people in West Africa
• Accra, is the best African city with the highest potential for inclusive growth, (2014 MasterCard African Cities)
• A Population of 25.28m people
• GDP US$ 38.58 billion (2014)
• Middle income country

Ghana has recently embarked on an ambitious but achievable reform programme to improve the investment climate for both local and international investors. The investment opportunities are in its diverse comparative advantage.

Investment opportunities in Ghana

1. Energy
2. Oil & Gas
3. Infrastructure
4. Agriculture
5. Tourism
6. Manufacturing
7. Services

Energy
Electricity Penetration: Ghana hopes to From 74% to 100% by 2020 in electricity power coverage. Electricity Generation is expected to go up From 2,135 mw to 5,000 mw by 2015. Also Filling the gap are Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Many opportunities exist for Independent Power Producers in the thermal, hydro and Renewable energy sub sectors.

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Oil & Gas
Pumping of oil in Ghana started on 15 December 2010. 14 discoveries have been made since the Jubilee discovery. A total of 8 exploration wells were drilled during the year 2011. Out of the 8, 6 of these resulted in oil, gas and condensate discoveries.

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Infrastructure
Ghana National mass transport facilities is in need of companies specialised in Maintenance and improvements. In its road network, about 54,084km of road needs maintenance. Also there is dire need for 250 km of road for improvements. The Railway sector needs Major rehabilitation, modernization and expansion. The current emphasis is for the Accra – Tema rail line modernization and expansion. Investors are also needed for Linking south to north Western, Eastern and Central lines network.

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Agriculture
The agriculture sector needs companies in technological and support services. It also needs companies with the expertise in distribution services, Standards, training and certification. Companies can invest in irrigation facilities and Large scale farming of crops. There is also need for investment by Storage and haulage services companies.

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Tourism

Manufacturing
Areas for investment include Food, cocoa processing, High value textiles and garments. Other areas include Wood processing and manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Salt production and processing, and Manufacture of electrical and electronic products.

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Services
Ghana aims to improve its services sector by investors getting involved in Banks Investment, universal, development. The financial sector will engage in export, mortgage, leasing, HP, venture capital, Mutual funds, savings & loans and trusts

Thanks for reading.