The Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has assured the international business community that Ghana is a safe, investor friendly country to do business.

The Akufo-Addo government, he said, is looking to empower and partner the private sector to be the engine of growth for the Ghanaian economy, in order to achieve its vision of making Ghana the most business-friendly country on the continent.

Vice President Bawumia gave the assurance when a Brazilian business delegation led by Ambassador Laudemar Goncalves de Aguiar Neto, Charge d’Affaires of the Federative Republic of Brazil’s Embassy in Ghana, paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House on Monday.

Commending the Brazilian businesses for the important role they continue to play in the Ghanaian economy, Dr Bawumia said the Akufo-Addo government was open for business.

“The vision of our government is to promote a business-friendly, private sector driven economy, so we want to encourage as much foreign investors as possible to invest in Ghana and invigorate the economy.

“The areas you’re involved in are job creating, very valuable, and we appreciate your continued support. We have very ambitious targets for Ghana, and that will be achieved in partnership with the private sector.

“We want to make Ghana the most business-friendly country in Africa.” Ambassador Laudemar Neto recalled the historic relationship between Brazil and Ghana, and affirmed his government’s commitment to strengthening the already strong bonds through trade.

“We support the Ghanaian government’s desire for business, and I am happy to say that more Brazilian companies are turning an eye towards Ghana,” he declared.

A number of Brazilian companies have set up operations in Ghana, in areas such as road construction, rice farming, paint production and cashew processing.

The Brazilian delegation included Mr Karl Nasr, Honorary Consul of Brazil to Ghana at Tema; Ms Lidiane Jaconi, Managing Director of Brazil Agribusiness Group; Mr Marcos Alexandre Silva, Managing Director, West Africa, for Quieroz Galvao Construction; Danilo Trinchao Pires Rios, Country Representative of Odebrecht Construction International; and Mr Jose Roberto Passareli, Country Manager of Contracta Construction Ghana Ltd.

The rest are Charles Galvao, Executive Chairman (Ghana) for Construtora OAS Ltd; Eng Fernando Mariano, CEO –Ghana for Andrade Gutierrez; Patricio Assis, Managing Director of Usibras Ghana; and Michael Akoto of the Commercial Section, Brazil Embassy in Ghana.