The President of Ghana – Nana Akufo-Addo has urged investors and business owners in Spain to consider investing in Ghana as his country is the safest place in Africa.

Addressing the business meeting, at the “Focus Africa 2023” Conference held in Madrid- Spain on 29th March 2021, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the AfCFTA will link all the fifty-four markets of Africa, covering 1.2 billion people, into a single market. “It is the world’s largest free trade area outside of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) itself. By 2050, it will cover an estimated 2.5 billion people, and have over a quarter of the world’s working-age population”, he added.

The President said, “Imagine the investment and business opportunities offered by the infrastructure required to link our markets more effectively. And imagine the business opportunities that this huge market would offer for manufacturing and services firms from Spain and Europe that could establish production facilities in Africa to serve the African markets.”

This will generate a number of decent, well-paying jobs that Africa’s youths crave for. Ghana is a haven of peace, security and stability, indeed, the safest country in West Africa, where legitimate investments are protected. The President told the gathering that the period from 2017 to 2020 was spent in navigating the economy in the right direction. The President said, “We have, over the period, put in place measures needed to reduce the cost of doing business, improve the business environment, and have made the Ghanaian economy not only one of the most business-friendly economies in Africa, but also one of the fastest-growing economies in the world between 2017 and 2020”.

The President said Ghana’s economy is one of the very few that still manages to record positive GDP growth. In spite of the havoc created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the President said the Government is working much harder to grow the economy faster at a targeted rate this year for businesses to flourish.

Talking about the pandemic he told the gathering why global cooperation is very necessary for each country. “We need to cooperate more, and we need to cooperate smartly. In the midst of all the complexities of the 21st century, our interdependence requires such cooperation. So, I applaud Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for convening “Focus Africa 2023”, and for the brilliance of the Plan Africa III initiative,” he added. President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that all children have unfettered access to education through the Free Senior High School policy in Ghana, and also the country is moving towards attaining Universal Health Coverage for all Ghanaians through the National Health Insurance Scheme. The country is processing more and more of its raw materials through the ‘One District- One Factory’ initiative to export and to also consume. Ghana has become a net exporter of food under its campaign – “Planting for Food and Jobs”, and the government is determined to move Ghana towards a situation beyond aid.

The major programme driving the revival and revitalization of the Ghanaian economy is the GH¢100 billion Ghana CARES (Obaatan pa) post-COVID programme, the main elements of which include supporting commercial farming and attracting educated youth into commercial farming; and building the country’s light manufacturing sector; developing engineering/machine tools and ICT/digital economy industries; amongst others.

President Akufo–Addo urged the business community in Spain and Europe to take advantage of the business-friendly climate in the country to invest in Ghana.