Kumasi, Dec. 17, GNA— The private sector has been encouraged to use insights from the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Investor Map to invest in Ghana’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors for good returns.
The SDG Investor Map is a digital tool that provides market intelligence in investment opportunities in a country, it generates country-level data.
Mr Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC), who made the call said as Ghana continues to recover from the global pandemic, it had become more prudent to adopt development strategies that were aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He was speaking to journalists after a breakfast meeting on the second edition of the SDG Investor Map.
“The SDG Investor Map shows exactly where the opportunities are for investors to leverage as this has become a very important source of information for persons seeking to invest in Ghana”, he stated.
He said the government, to accelerate SDG-aligned investments, had partnered the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other stakeholders through the GIPC, to guide investors seeking to venture into priority sectors.
The event rallied together relevant stakeholders to discuss and take advantage of the enormous investment opportunity areas in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors of Ghana, to contribute to the recovery and resilience of these areas.
A second iteration of the SDG Investor Map is currently identifying specific investment opportunities at the local levels, Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The pilot MMDAs are Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Ketu South Municipal Assembly, Sefwi Wiawso Municipal Assembly, Jomoro Municipal Assembly, Sagnarigu District Assembly, and Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly.
Mr Grant called for massive participation by private investors to build a robust economy for Ghana and beyond.
Mr Sukhrob Khoshmukhamedov, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Ghana, highlighting the important role of the agriculture sector in Ghana’s economic growth pledged UNDP’s commitment to supporting the country’s efforts to make it a preferred investment destination.
“Agriculture plays a pivotal role in Ghana’s economy, employing about 60 per cent of the country’s total labour force but only contributing about 20 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
UNDP will continue to work with the Government and other partners to transform food and agriculture to be more resilient, equitable, inclusive, environmentally and economically sustainable”, he stressed.
He said UNDP would continue to support the Government’s efforts towards making Ghana an investment-friendly and added that the UNDP would assist in using the SDG Investor Map as a vehicle for strategic development investment.
Mr James Boateng, the 2018 National Best Farmer, highlighted the viable business opportunities in the agricultural sector that potential investors could take advantage of.
They included oil palm plantation, coconut, cashew, maize, and snail farming.
GNA