The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair’s statement that Ghana is a country with a bright future and the potential to become one of the greatest countries in the world is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), Tony Blair, has described Ghana as a country with a bright future and the potential to become one of the greatest countries in the world.
“The other thing I want to say is that this relationship between Britain and Ghana is one we are proud of and want to deepen. We believe in this country; we believe in its future; we believe in the people and we know that Ghana is not only going to be one of the greatest African countries but the world in the future,” he added.
Mr Blair, who was on a working visit to the country, was speaking at a party held at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Accra last Tuesday to mark the 96th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The event was attended by a host of dignitaries, including members of the Diplomatic Corps, traditional and religious leaders, chief executives, Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers of State.
On display was the latest Land Rover vehicle and an e-motorbike.
Queen Elizabeth has travelled more than any monarch in the world — 271 official visits, including two of such visits to Ghana in 1961 and 1999.
Mr Blair, who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1997 to 2007, said Britain would increase its presence in the country.
The newspaper says that the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has described the retail sector of the economy as a no go area for foreigners.
The warning comes on the back of plans by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) to review the capital restrictions for foreign investors who seek to invest in the country.
The GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865) requires foreign companies which seek to partner local businesses to provide a capital requirement of US$200,000, while wholly foreign businesses which desire to operate are required to provide a capital of US$500,000.
For foreign businesses which want to do business in the trading space, the capital requirement is pegged at US$1 million.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC, Yaw Amoateng Afriyie, recently disclosed that the GIPC had started stakeholder engagements to review these capital restrictions.
He said the process was to help position Ghana as the investment destination in the sub region.
Also speaking in an interview with the Graphic Business, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghanaian Industries, Seth Twum Akwaboah, said the association was yet to take a position on the issue.
He said this was a major issue that required the input of all members of the association.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Japanese government says it is exploring various areas of co-operation to support of Ghana’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) preparedness.
Miyashita Tadayuki, Deputy Director General of the Department of African Affairs, Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that new collaborations and partnerships were necessary in addressing economic and security challenges that confront the world.
Addressing a virtual meeting on March 16, he said the support would be tailor-made to enable Ghana to lead and own her development process.
The meeting forms part of events in preparation for this year’s Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), a summit-level conference on Africa’s development initiated by Japan in 1993.
He stated that Agriculture, infrastructure development and COVID vaccine support were some of the priority areas that would be given the needed attention to enhance the country’s growth.
Scheduled for August 27 and 28 and expected to be held in Tunisia, this year’s event would be the eight edition of TICAD.
Prior to the TICAD 8, the TICAD Ministerial Meeting would be held online on March 26 and 27.
Mr Tadayuki stated that owing to the considerable socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Africa, Japan was of the view that now was the time to work together internationally.
The newspaper says that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has said the 5.4 per cent Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) achieved last year signalled a rebound of the Ghanaian economy.
Data released by the Ghana Statistical Service a couple of weeks ago indicated that the country recorded a provisional real GDP growth of 5.4 per cent which is one per cent higher than the 4.4 projected by the government.
The MoF in a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday said the 2021 growth rate showed that the economy had expanded more than was anticipated and exceeded the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) average growth of 4.5 percent for 2021.
“These developments are positive and confirm the fact that, the economy is rebounding post-COVID-19, the rate of debt accumulation is tapering off, and there is a slowdown in fiscal expansion with Ghana on track to return to the Fiscal Responsibility Act deficit threshold of five percent of GDP by 2024,” the Finance Ministry said.
Figures released by the GSS indicated that real GDP expanded by 7.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the 4.3 per cent growth recorded in the corresponding period of 2020. Similarly, non-oil real GDP in the fourth quarter of 2021 expanded by 7.6 percent compared to 5.7 percent for the same period in 2020.
“On an annual basis, the provisional real GDP growth for 2021 showed a positive outturn of 5.4 percent, exceeding the 4.4 percent 2021 projected outturn by one percentage point and the Sub-Saharan Africa average growth by 0.9 percentage point,” the statement said.
Similarly, the statement said the non-oil real GDP expanded from 1.0 percent in 2020 to 6.9 per cent in 2021 (the highest non-oil real GDP growth rate since the rebasing was done in 2013) exceeding the target of 5.9 per cent for the period.
GIK/APA