The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) on 26th March 2024, hosted its maiden Investor Aftercare Forum, at the Labadi Beach Hotel.
The event, themed ‘enhancing investor experience,’ provided a platform for key stakeholders to deliberate on strategies aimed at bolstering support for investor growth and streamlining business operations within the country.
Investment trends over the years have shown that a significant percentage of foreign direct investment (FDI) in countries is linked to already existing foreign businesses. This phenomenon underscores the need to prioritize reinvestment through the enhancement of the investment climate, particularly for existing businesses.
The forum therefore served as an avenue to gather feedback and insights from MDA Focal Persons, MMDAs, and investors to identify areas for improvement, in creating an enabling environment post-establishment.
Speaking at the event, GIPC’s CEO, Mr. Yofi Grant underscored the criticality of aftercare in every country’s investment promotion effort. He asserted that, though there has been significant improvement in the ease of doing business in Ghana, key areas such as the investor-onboarding, and post-establishment support can be further streamlined.
Mr. Grant therefore urged stakeholders to make use of the Investor Grievance Mechanism, which is earmarked to identify and track in a timely manner, issues besetting investor operations.
He also assured them of the government’s commitment to create an enabling environment that will ensure that “investments in Ghana are retained and expanded”.
Following Mr. Grant’s remarks, Ms. Victoria Cobbah, Head of Aftercare at GIPC, presented further insights into the importance of prioritizing investor aftercare services and outlined strategies to achieve this goal. She highlighted success stories from the Centre’s Aftercare unit, which has been instrumental in assisting investors navigate the regulatory landscape in Ghana and overcome compliance challenges that arise. She explained that the unit was purposed to aid investors minimize operational issues and act as a liaison between them and the government to foster a conducive policy environment.
Ms. Cobbah further elaborated on the forthcoming launch of an aftercare manual and information pack, designed to serve as comprehensive toolkits for investors.
Taking his turn, a Principal Economic Officer from the Ministry of Finance, Victor Kofi Baidoo, oriented participants on the new Exemptions Act 2022, Act 1083, responding to questions and feedback from the investor community.
He clarified that the new exemptions act was not designed to disenfranchise or undermine any institution. Instead, it serves as a overarching law to standardize and consolidate exemptions dispersed across multiple statutes.
The interactive session ended with an Aftercare Clinic, where investors had the opportunity to directly engage MDAs/MMDAs to address pending issues.
