Envoy urges Nigerian businessmen to invest in Ghana

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Consul General of Ghana in Lagos has urged Nigeria’s captain of industries to invest in Ghana, describing that country as their next destination.

He made the announcement while calling for the consolidation of Nigeria-Ghana friendship during the 55th independence anniversary of the country organized by the National Association of Ghanaian Communities in Nigeria (NAGHACON).

Alhaji Abdulai A. Abukari assured Nigerian business community that those who respond to the challenge would not regret investing in Ghana. He was quick to draw attention the enabling environment the country offers businessmen, saying, “For the past 20 years we have changed government only through the ballot box. “We have 24 hours electricity as well as the human capacity.

Abukari was however mindful of the need to sustain the existing enabling environment of peace, security and stability. He urged Ghanaians to reflect on those things “we should have done that we have not done so that posterity can judge us well.”

He reminded his compatriots “it was not enough to say I am a Ghanaian or I love Ghana. It must go beyond that… we need to make genuine sacrifice, not sacrifice shrouded in selfishness.” He was emphatic when he said, “This annual ritual of celebration will be meaningless, an illusion except we emphasis on those things our founding fathers did to achieve independence, those things that unite us and not those things that divide us.”

Addressing the mammoth crowd that gathered at the Grange school ground, G.R.A. Ikeja, NAGHACON President Frank Ekow Quaye traced the history of the difficult times Ghana has passed through to get where it is today. “During our fifty-five years of nation building, our country has been through difficult times. The country had at one point had to go through a painful period of Structural Adjustment Recovery Programme,” he said.

While congratulating all those who had contributed to the turn around in the fortune of the country, he said, “The recent discovery of oil fondly called the black gold had indeed changed the economic status of our country and brought her to the lime light as one of the major players in the world economy. Today, Ghana is taunted as one of the fastest growing economies of the world.”

Quaye believes that “the positive turn around in the economy has engendered confidence in Ghanaians living outside the country,” noting that many of them returned to their roots to contribute to the growth of the country. Quaye was full of excitement when he announced “Ghana is now at the threshold of an industrial take off that will launch the country to a middle level income one by the year 2020.”

He appealed to Ghanaians to re-dedicate themselves as they celebrate the 55th independence anniversary. He was confident when he said, “Ghana under the presidency of John Attah Mills will continue to pursue policies which will help forge global peace, stability and progress. The cordial relationship with Nigeria will continue to blossom and strengthened at all time.