The Ghana Free Zone Board (GFZB) which aims to provide a one stop shop service centre for free zone investors has attracted proposed capital investment of US$ 790 million for the first eight months of the year.

This was made possible through the registration of 23 new free zone companies in the country. The proposed capital investment has translated in to over 31,000 direct jobs in the country.

Of this investment Lonrho – a British company-brought in US$540 million for the establishment of a free port complex at Atuabo in the Western Region which has created about 300 jobs.

Briefing the press in Accra last week, Hajia Hanatu Abubakar-Bimi, Head of Investor Support Services said this was made possible due to the political stability that the country has continued to enjoy for some time now.

“Apart from the incentives that we give to potential investors, what makes investors troop into the country is that Ghana is touted as a beacon of hope for Africa. There is always peace and stability in the country and that is our selling point” she said.

At the recent African Global Economic and Development (AGED) Summit, she said two companies expressed interest in establishing in Ghana; oil and Gas Company and a shea- butter company.

The purpose of The AGED Summit was to promote bilateral Foreign Direct Investment, International Trade, Cultural Exchange and Tourism between the 54 individual countries of the continent of Africa. Delegates from the United States, Asia, Africa and the African Diaspora representing political & social organizations, businesses & investment groups, the arts and cultural associations, education, international trade and tourism attend the AGED Summit.

The GFZB currently has four established enclaves which are located in Tema, Kumasi, Sekondi and Shama.

The Tema Export Processing Zone, with a total area of 1,200 acre offers investors a favourable and conducive environment for manufacturing, service and commercial export activities.

Business processing is facilitated by the deliberate convergence of all front line export/investment promotion institutions such as Customs Division, Police Service, Immigration Service, Environmental Protection Agency and Domestic Tax Division into a one stop-shop.

For the Shama land bank, the enclave is good with a strategic location covering 3200 acres of sea front land. The GFZB intends to provide investment support in downstream refinery, distribution, transit and supply chain business services including dominant operators in chemical production as well as manufacturing of by-products like plastics and jellies provided they are intended for export.

The Sekondi Export Processing Zone provides good location for manufacturing and dealers in the by-products and accessories produced by those industries and may not necessarily require a sea front property for their export- oriented operations.

The Ashanti technology park is to evolve into a multipurpose export processing zone where opportunities abound for investment in water production and distribution, electricity generation from thermal and bio-mass plants, telecommunications infrastructure and accessories manufacturing.