Four US firms express investment interest

Four American companies have expressed interest to invest in the information, communication and technology as well as poultry and salt industries in Ghana.

Another American company, Applied Computer Services (ACS), which is already established in the country, has decided to expand its operations to create 1000 additional jobs.

These were the outcome of the investment promotion tour embarked upon by President J.A. Kufuor in the Salt Lake City, capital of the Utah State in the USA, last week.

The four companies are OverC Company, Convergys, Airnet Communications Corporation and Sentry Financial International.

An IT specialist and Special Assistant at the Office of the President, Dr Sam Somuah who disclosed this in an interview in Accra described the President’s investor tour as very successful.

He said the Sentry International has decided to invest a total of ¢163 billion in poultry and salt mining industry in two years.

The company will release ¢81.5 billion to the National Investment Bank this year for disbursement to poultry and salt mining as well as IT companies in the country.

Dr Somuah said the release of remaining ¢81.5 billion will depend on the successful management of the first half of the investment.

He indicated that the OverC company has proposed to employ 200 workers initially with the possibility of increasing the workforce to 500.

Officials of the company are expected in the country in November and the company plans to begin operations next January, he said.

The company has operations in 40 countries different parts of the world apart from Africa and has now decided to invest in Africa for the first time with Ghana, Mauritius and South Africa as its target.

Dr Somuah said the Airnet Communication Corporation has expressed its intention to roll out one million fixed and cellular telephone lines throughout the 110 districts in the country over the next five years.

He said the project will ensure that all rural areas of the country receive telephone and Internet services with superior quality at affordable rates.

The IT Specialist said the technology which will be used by the Airnet has a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) will enable fixed Internet services to be accessed in every part of Ghana in the first phase.

The (GPRS) platform will enable all secondary schools to be connected to the Internet as promised by the President in his State of the Nation’s address to Parliament last February.

He said extensive studies and financing arrangements have been made to enable the project to begin as soon as a frequency license is issued by the National Communications Authority.

The execution of the project is expected to provide 10,600 jobs in the country within five years.

He said the country is dependent on traditional exports such as cocoa and gold, a situation which cannot sustain the economy in the 21st century.

He said the IT industry offers a huge potential which can be tapped for the country’s development.