President woos investors as second Africa Investment Forum opens

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, underlined the need for an African framework to pull investments into the different sectors of the continent’s economy.

Speaking at a panel of African Heads of State ahead of the opening of the second African Investment Forum (AIF) in Johannesburg, South Africa, he said there was unanimity that Africa needed to seize opportunities to enhance the development and economic transformation of the various countries.

President Akufo-Addo was on the panel with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and a representative of the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi.

The audience included active global and regional investors in the continent

He said Ghana had laid a solid macro-economic foundation for take-off of the economy - succeeded in bringing down fiscal deficit and the rate of inflation to seven per cent, the lowest in 20 years.

Additionally, the economy was growing at between seven and eight per cent annually, and said: “These are the building blocks for rapid transformation”.

President Akufo-Addo told the investors that opportunities existed in areas of infrastructure - roads, rail and development of airports, agricultural transformation and adding value to mineral resources.

Ghana, he said, was focusing priority on innovation in those sectors, and that it was keen on attracting private sector development, especially, in adding value to the vast mineral resources.

The three-day second edition of the AIF, being organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its partners, has brought together over 2000 delegates from 109 countries.

The multi-stakeholder transactional marketplace is aimed at raising capital, advancing projects to bankable stage and accelerating financial closure of deals.

Last year, the Forum saw the signing of over US$38.7 billion of investments deals. This year’s is expected to hit twice that amount.

Ghana will be the signing of two key agreements - The Accra Sky Train Project and the US$600 million AfDB loan for the development of the cocoa sector.