GIPC courts diaspora investors to increase investments

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has engaged the diaspora community to increase Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and Diaspora Direct Investments (DDIs) inflows into the country.

The diaspora investment campaign, which took place in about five states in the USA, was part of plans to meet the Centre’s US$3billion target for investment returns this year.

Dubbed the Ghana Diaspora Connect Roadshow, the event took the GIPC-led delegation to California, Washington State, New York, Georgia and Washington D.C. with an objective to showcase investment opportunities in Ghana to the diaspora, pursue opportunities for bilateral trade and investments in selected sectors of the economy under the CARES Programme, provide a platform for diaspora investors and entrepreneurs to engage with government officials, and to provide an avenue for diaspora input into national policy.

GIPC’s CEO, Yofi Grant, said the roadshow’s key focus was to increase the flow of direct diaspora investment into Ghana, mainly through the mobilisation and engagement of diaspora investors and entrepreneurs.

The campaign, he said, was envisaged to augment the local economic efforts geared at stimulating economic growth while building partnerships for greater mutual economic benefit.

Mr. Grant has recently said that though the pandemic has eroded over US$12trillion of wealth globally during the first year of COVID in 2020, Ghana recorded an FDI of US$2.64billion in the same year at the height of the pandemic – better than the US$1.4billion in 2021.

This, he said, has sparked high levels of confidence that the Centre will meet its 2022 FDIs target.

Some companies the Roadshow touched base with include Overland Tandberg, Microsoft, SpaceX, Tyler Perry Studios, the US Chamber of Commerce and other notable companies in the USA.

The Roadshow also included three Diaspora Investment Meetings in New York City, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

The campaign concluded with the Diaspora Investment Meeting in Washington, D.C. on the theme ‘Connecting Ghana to the Diaspora: Harnessing Diaspora Direct Investments for Economic Developments.’

The meeting was made up of persons from the various groupings including Ghanaian associations, the Washington Metro Area Business Community, African America Community group, including the Constituency for Africa and members of the Ghana and American Chamber of Commerce, the Ghana Diaspora group and other potential investors.

“Through a series of conversations, some of the investor groups got better insights on the progressive policies and conditions for business and investments in Ghana,” the GIPC said.