Intra-Africa Connect enumerates Ghana’s investment opportunities at Ecobank Club Launch

Co-founder of Intra-Africa Connect, an organization committed to promoting and enabling intra-African trade and investment, Mrs. Leah Nduati Lee, has enumerated trade and investments opportunities in Ghana at an Emerald Ecobank Business Club launch in Kenya.

In a presentation titled ‘Opportunity Ghana—Why not Ghana?’, at the club launch in Nairobi, Kenya, Mrs. Lee asked Kenyan businesses and investors, and indeed others from around Africa, to take advantage of the trade and investment opportunities that exist in Ghana and invest in the country to boost trade between the two countries and within Africa. She mentioned manufacturing, agriculture, real estate, private university and tertiary education, tourism, private healthcare and insurance, and ICT services as viable sectors for investment.

“Ghana is now embracing private sector driven, tertiary education with a surge of Private Universities having come up in the last 4-5 years. However, there is no Tertiary institute for the Hospitality industry which causes a great gap when it comes to tourism development. Ghana is ideally placed to become a hub for Hospitality training in West Africa just as Kenya is for East Africa”, Mrs. Lee stated.

On tourism, the Intra-Africa Connect co-founder noted that there is a real avenue for investors to explore joint ventures with land owners in prime tourist sites, as well as opportunities to sell expertise in hotel management. “Ghana’s high expatriate population makes up a big percentage of the hotel and resort patronage, as well as tourists coming in from North America and Europe”, she added.

Also, giving details on agriculture and food importation, Mrs. Lee said Ghana currently imports majority of its food including vegetables, meat, milk and nuts from Latin America, Europe and Asia. This, she said, is a major opportunity for Kenyan exporters to tap. “Opportunities exist in exporting tea, coffee, value added crops, nuts, seeds (e.g. chia, pumpkin etc.), milk, meat and meat products from Kenya to Ghana”, she indicated.

Mrs. Lee used the occasion to encourage the Kenyan Business Community to take advantage and attend the Kenya Trade Expo in Ghana, to be held in early November in Accra.

The Emerald Ecobank Club which was launched in Nairobi, Kenya, will focus on strengthening intra-Africa trade, leveraging on the Bank’s presence in 33 African markets. It is also aimed at widening opportunities for its Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) customers by creating direct linkages between businesses operating in the 33 African markets with over 12.8 million customers.

Ecobank Kenya Executive Director, Head of Commercial Banking Kenya & EAC Humphrey Muturi, who spoke at the launch, said the new Business Club would facilitate the interaction of businesses across Africa, enabling members to benefit by being part of a like-minded community.

Ms. Laurence Do Rego – Ecobank Group Executive, Commercial Banking, who also spoke at the function, observed that the main risk for most SMEs is the loss of their products or services to unscrupulous traders with no formal traceability or channels to authenticate the end recipient. “If they can get access to a secure network, formal business channels and an understanding of trade rules and requirements in different markets then they are more willing to expand into new markets through B to B agreements”, she said.

Intra-Africa trade currently stands at 14%, accounting for 18% of African exports. The launch of the club comes on the back of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) agreement which was recently signed by 44 African countries and expected to create a $6.7 trillion market by the year 2030.

Over 350 businesses, including airline operators, as well as representatives of intra-Africa trade advocates and other stakeholders attended the club launch.