Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) increased by over four hundred percent for the first half of 2020, figures from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has shown.
The Foreign Direct Investments increased from US$627.52 million in the first half of 2020 compared to the FDI value of US$123.26 million recorded within the same period last year.
The data also shows that Ghana recorded total investments of US$869.47 million for the first half of the year.
Out of this, total Foreign Direct Investments of US$785.62 million was recorded by both the Ghana Investment Promotion Center and the Petroleum Commission between January to June 2020.
For the Ghana Investment Promotion Center itself, a total of 69 projects with a total estimated value of US$688.74 million was recorded at the end of June 2020.
Out of this, the total Foreign Direct Investment component amounted to US$627.52 million while local component accounted for an estimated US$61.22 million.
Speaking at a press briefing, Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC, Yofi Grant, stated that the FDI value of US$627.52 million was a considerable increase of about 409.10 percent from last year’s FDI value of US$123.26 million recorded within the same period, depicting a strong performance irrespective of the global pandemic.
“However, in spite of a sluggish start in the first quarter of 2020 and a worrying slump in the beginning of the second quarter due to severe lockdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, FDIs to Ghana have begun to rebound resulting in a notable increase in FDI inflow for the first half of the year,” he said.
Out of the 69 projects recorded, the services sector registered a majority of 25 projects followed by the manufacturing and export trade sector with 21 and 11 projects respectively.
With regard to value, general trading recorded the highest amount of $246.05 million.
This was closely followed by the mining exploration sector with S$231.02 million having sealed some major investments such as the Chirano Gold mine project for the exploration of minerals.
The manufacturing sector also saw significant investments valued at $170.67 million on the back of some notable ventures such as a deal by Matrix industries for the manufacture of paper and aluminium products as well as the Rainbow Paints Limited project which is a joint venture between Ghana and Kenya for the manufacturing of paints and related products.
All 69 projects are expected to make significant contributions to job creation in the country.
Mr Yofi Grant said, “an estimated 14,614 jobs would be created when the projects became fully operational.”
Out of this, 14,052 of the jobs, representing 96.15 percent will be for Ghanaians, while the remaining 562 jobs, representing 3.85 per cent, will be taken up by foreigners.
He further noted that the GIPC would continue to pursue worthwhile investments for economic development as well as support government initiatives such as the COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support Programme to help bolster the Ghanaian economy towards recovery and remain resilient during and after the pandemic.
Source: citbusinessnews.com
