Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, has encouraged Diasporas to continue to invest in Africa, especially Ghana, to improve on the economies.
He said Ghana was positioned to provide trade access and trade facilitation to any diaspora investor, who wanted to invest in the Ghanaian economy.
Mr Owusu-Ankomah, who is also the High Commissioner to the Republic of Ireland, was speaking at the virtual maiden Ghana Diaspora Investment Meeting-UK 2021, organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
The meeting was on the theme, ‘Increasing Diaspora Direct Investment to Ghana: Exploring Opportunities, Navigating Hurdles’.
The one-day investment meeting was being organized on the side-lines of the Africa Financial Services Investment Conference-Investing in Africa Conference, being held at the Waldorf Hilton in London, as part of the Trade & Investment Mission to the United Kingdom by the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce.
It is to increase diaspora investment into Ghana through fostering an enabling business environment to engage and mobilize diaspora entrepreneurs and investors in the UK, to work with Ghanaian businesses in support of sustainable investment, enterprise development, and job creation activities in Ghana.
He said the Ghanaian economy offered one of the highest returns on investment in areas of manufacturing, healthcare services and energy.
The High Commissioner said Africa-Diasporas was key to the developmental journey of the African Continent and in those efforts, the experiences and skills of these individuals, had a means of contributing to that journey.
“Diasporas are welcomed to join in the contribution to foster and sustain African’s integration,” he added.
Mr Owusu-Ankomah said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was creating a whole narrative for the Diasporas to collaborate with their UK business to invest in African markets with Ghana as a gateway.
He said “it appears that on all fronts, Ghana stands as an attractive and preferred investment destination in Africa”.
Madam Baroness Kate Hoey, United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy to Ghana, said the UK was committed to supporting Ghana in green financing.