Commonwealth Investment Council to increase presence in Ghana — CEO

The Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council says it is looking forward to increasing its presence in the country over the next 12 months.

It said it had put plans in place to bring an international audience of businesses to the country to look at opportunities that existed.

The move, it said, was to step up trade and investment between Ghanaian businesses and their international counterparts.

The Chief Executive Officer of the CEIC, Rosie Glazebrook, said that at a press conference in Accra yesterday as part of her two-day working visit to the country.

The CEIC, which is the business arm of the Commonwealth, is an organisation of over 2.4 billion people across 56 countries with a combined Gross Domestic Product of nearly $15 trillion and a combined wealth of over $50 trillion.

Promotion

Among other things, its objective is to promote trade and investment across the various countries.

Ms Glazebrook indicated that the organisation worked across the 56 countries of the Commonwealth and that it was an independent network of nations where there were huge opportunities to share expertise, trade and investment opportunities.

“We have 12 hubs across the globe, including one here in Ghana. We recently opened one in Cameroun and we also have hubs in Nigeria and Kenya which covers East and Central Africa among the 12 which range from Australia to the Caribbean.

“Africa is a hugely important market for our organisation because we really want to support businesses and work in collaboration with partners such as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area as well as with others,” she said.

Partners

In addition, Ms Glazebrook said the organisation also worked with government partners and looked forward to building its partnership with the government of Ghana as had been done with the government of Cameroun, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, among others.

The CEIC CEO said the organisation had nine strategic partners which were businesses ranging from banks to insurance companies and that they were out of the 155 strategic partners that ranged from biggest international organisations such Zenith Bank, BP, Dangote Group to smaller technology companies that were looking for new markets.

“The reason they want to be part of what we do is because we can help leverage those government business links and connections in a way that really demonstrates growth for those organisations,” she said.

Summit

Ms Glazebrook said on November 27 and 28, this year, the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Summit would be held in London and that she looked forward to a strong Ghanaian delegation from businesses which could be part of an international gathering that would include two prime ministers that had confirmed their participation.

Again, she said there would be the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Forum in Malta on February 5 and 6, 2024 and “again we expect another opportunity from Ghanaian businesses that are looking at access into Europe and how we can support that.”

“So we are really keen to help businesses here in Ghana work with partners whether they are in India, Australia or the UK,” she emphasised.

The Chairman of the Ghana Office of the CEIC, Gabby Otchere-Darko said the Ghana Hub of the CEIC was proud to be part of the organisation.

The Head of Mission of the CEIC, John Obeng Apea said the organisation was looking for dynamic businesses and people with vision.