Business News of Saturday, 7 December 2019
Source: www.citibusinessnews.com
2019-12-07
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaian businesses to explore opportunities offered by the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement to venture into countries such as South Africa.
The President was speaking in Accra at the Ghana-South Africa Business Roundtable meeting which was also attended by his counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ghana and South Africa have had a strong bilateral relation since 1994. The West African country is one of the biggest export markets in Africa for South African goods. Some of the biggest South African companies like mobile network operator, MTN, food retailer Shoprite have formed deep roots in the Ghanaian economy.
Speaking at the Ghana-South Africa Business Roundtable meeting in Accra, President Akufo-Addo said Ghanaian businesses are being encouraged to build their capacities to take advantage of opportunities in countries such as South Africa.
He said the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement whose secretariat is to be hosted in Ghana, offers many opportunities for Ghanaian companies seeking to expand to other countries.
“I am hoping that, increasingly, Ghanaian businesses will also be seeking to look at what they can also do in terms of investing in the South African economy. There are important economic players in Ghana who should begin now to have a global and continental perspective in the work that they are doing and South Africa should be an obvious target,” the President added.
Partnership for ACFTA
South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his address stated that for the objectives of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement to be achieved, countries must partner to build cross border infrastructure.
He argued that such shared infrastructure provides the engine that will propel the massive intra-African trade that has always been the goal of a common trade area.
The Business Roundtable meeting was an initiative of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the South African High Commission in Ghana.
