By
Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Feb 20, GNA –
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, congratulated Mr Wamkele
Mene on his election as Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade
Area (AfCFTA).
“We extend our warm
congratulations to the first Secretary-General, Wamkele Mene, the young South
African, and assure him that we will give him our fullest co-operation to
ensure he succeeds,” President Akufo-Addo stated in his Fourth State of the
Nation Address (SONA) delivered to Parliament, in Accra.
“Having won the
bid to host the Headquarters of the AfCFTA in Accra, the Government has
provided a permanent office building to host the Secretariat, and with the
appointment of the Secretary-General in Addis Ababa two weeks ago, at the
recent AU Summit, the office will become operational by the end of next month.”
He said the
Government was aggressively pursuing its plans for industrial transformation.
While the Business
Development Ministry worked on bringing out entrepreneurial skills and
encouraging young people to spot business opportunities, he said, efforts were
being made to make Ghana an easy place to do business and set up industries.
“We launched the
Ghana Automotive Development Policy in August last year, and it has so far
attracted investments and commercial interests from some very big players,
including Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, Sinotruk and Suzuki,”
he said.
“VW is building its
plant at the North Industrial Area in Accra, and it is due to start production
by the end of April. Sinotruk has begun assembling its trucks.”
Toyota is also
scheduled to start the assembly of vehicles in Tema in the last quarter of this
year.
“We have high hopes
for this new industry, which has come to join our own Kantanka,” the President
stated.
GNA