Ghana is already planning to become Africa’s next industrial hub with the government’s One District, One Factory plan. This statement was made by the CEO of EXIM Bank of Ghana, Lawrence Agyinsam during a summit organized by the Gulf Business Forum in partnership with the Foreign Investment Network (FIN).

The summit, which was held under the theme “Connecting entrepreneurs and facilitating, investment, business growth network and trade between the UAE, Asia and Africa” had industry players and business owners from all over the world.

According to the boss of Ghana Exim Bank, he believes that Africa can be self-sufficient with the right foreign direct investment, thus ending the habit of relying on foreign aid. He noted that his bank had invested $300 million in Ghana in the pharmaceutical, cocoa and garment industries. He said his bank would support new investment in the gold refining sector to add value to raw materials before export.

Also at the summit, the Acting CEO of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Corporation (NIPC), Mr. Emeka Offor, said that Nigeria abounds with huge opportunities in its business terrain.

“Nigeria is a land of opportunities and the government is ensuring that they are exploited.

“The Nigerian government has set up a Presidential Business Enablement Council to see to reforms in the country’s ease of doing business with investors as well as improving competitiveness in the investment landscape” , he said.

Offor noted that the NIPC was established by the NIPC Act of 1995 to encourage investment in Nigeria through program facilitation and policy advocacy.

Present at the summit were various investors and CEOs of international organizations from the UAE and Asia and they all recognized Africa as a great market that they would like to explore in order to expand their investments for mutual growth. They say that every success story is about adaptability to change and that for Africa to develop it must open its doors to the world and allow foreign direct investment.

Key investors at the summit include RChenie Int’l Managing Director Shirish Patwardhan; the CEO of Sanbook Consultancy, Dr. Sunil Manjarekar; the former chairman of the Indian Business Professional Council, Abas Ali Mirza; President, Samsotech Int’l, Jayant Deshpande.

The summit follows last year’s successful hosting of the FIN Africa-UAE Foreign Investment Network Trade and Investment Forum, which saw the UAE commit $2 billion to ensure the growth and sustainability of the Nigerian mining sector. Foreign Investment Network (FIN) Africa will partner to host another Blockchain and Investment Forum in Dubai in February 2022.

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