The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), in partnership with United Nations’ Development Programme’s (UNDP) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Impact, and Global Investor for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, has launched the SDG Investment Platform in the country.

The platform will serve as an additional tool in the provision of market intelligence on investment opportunities in Ghana and within the region.

At a gradual-launching ceremony, which officially sets in motion, the UNDP’s enterprising initiative to accelerate SDG-aligned investments in the country and beyond, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, Yofi Grant remarked that the Investment Platform aligns with the Centre’s objective of identifying and promoting investment opportunities in the country.

“UNDP’s market intelligence tool is closely aligned with the mandate of GIPC. The SDG Investor Map is a concrete and comprehensive set of information that helps us to identify investment opportunities that we can promote in support of the Government’s vision.

The implementation of the SDG Investor Map follows exactly the approach we take at GIPC. This will support our efforts in facilitating an attractive investment framework and advocating for investors’ concerns in policymaking,” he explained.

The launch was organized to coincide with the global launch at the margin of the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development and the SDG Investment Fair.

He added that his outfit will continue working with UNDP to facilitate sector-focused investments, and expressed the Centre’s confidence in the power of the SDG Investor Platform to make Ghanaian opportunities available to international audiences.

The Platform will offer insight, data, and impact measurement tools to both local and foreign investors, with the purpose of fast-tracking the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG investor Map, a key feature of the platform, will provide market intelligence for private sector investors, by translating country-level SDG gaps and priorities into investment opportunities.

The standardised 8-step approach of the investor map will ensure that the business community is directed to country-specific investment prospects based on policy priorities, developmental needs, and investment potential, as it highlights these opportunities and their expected SDG impact. This valuable investor toolkit will also serve as a source of intelligence on local market conditions, in addition to a gross evaluation of the entrepreneurial environment.

With Ghana’s SDG financing gap estimated at US$43 billion per year, the investment platform offers an avenue for correcting the shortfalls and creating a conducive investment climate to drive the country’s development agenda.

The SDG Investor Map has pointed out Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) within five identified priority sectors in Ghana – Agriculture, Infrastructure, Communications, Healthcare and Consumer Goods – where the private sector can explore. Notable among these IOAs are construction of affordable housing, provision of internet hotspots for rural areas, digitalization of healthcare delivery, as well as aquaculture.

Touching on the IOAs, UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative in Ghana, Silke Hollander, said, “We will go deeper in each of the five sectors so that we go beyond the provision of market and sector intelligence to actual money invested in Ghana. It is our hope, especially in this Decade of Action, that the SDG Investor Maps will accelerate investments needed to progress towards the achievement of the 2030 goals.”