Cocoa Processing Company to double capacity in five years
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 September 2001 - Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow into Ghana fell sharply from 233.84 million dollars in 1999 to 132.1 million dollars last year, representing about 52 per cent decrease over the 1999 levels.
Speaking at the launch of the World Investment Report 2001 in Accra on Tuesday, Emmanuel Gyasi, Director of the Research and Development Division of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, said although it was difficult to determine the exact amount of investment flows because of lack of co-ordination among the various investment attracting agencies, FDI flow into the country last year was not the best.
He attributed the fall to the difficult macro-economic environment evidenced in high inflation and the rapid depreciation of the cedi against major foreign currencies.
Inflation last year averaged 40 per cent and the cedi depreciated more than 80 per cent from 4,200 cedis to 7,200 cedis to the dollar at the close of the year.
There was also the unpredictable outcome of the 2000 elections that made potential investors to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
Mr Gyasi said other bottlenecks, besides the macro-economic environment, that impede the ability of the country should be looked at and removed for potential investors to have confidence in the economy.
He mentioned acquisition and registration of land as one such negative factor that discouraged foreign investors.
"The longer period investors spend to acquire land adds to the cost of doing business and makes the country unattractive to them."
The GIPC, he said, has identified some of these shortcomings and is working to review the Investment Act to bring it in line with current investment practices in the world.
Although the Act had been praised as the best in Africa, Mr Gyasi said, the country had not been able to achieve its target of investment flows.
He admitted that legal environment, though necessary, was not enough to speed the rate of investment flows.
Other factors such as attitude of workers, perception of work cultures from other countries and the skills of labour might be more critical in influencing investment flows.
Mr Gyasi suggested the promotion of regional links and breaking down trade barriers among the countries in the sub-region as a first step to improving investment flows onthe continent and also in taking advantage of globalisation.
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, said although the government enjoy a lot of goodwill from the international community, this was not enough to attract investment. ''There is the need for other actions''.
He said the government was doing everything possible to make GIPC a one-stop investment centre by ensuring that all bureaucratic rules and procedures are removed to facilitate easy processing of documents. The legal system is also being looked at to review the benefits available to investors.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 September 2001 - While Foreign Direct Investment is reaching more countries its distribution is uneven with the top 30 host countries accounting for 95 per cent of total world inflows, says the 2001 World Investment Report.
The report, which was launched in Accra on Tuesday by Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, said out of 1.3 trillion dollars inflows last year, developing countries accounted for only 240 billion dollars.
This brought down developing countries' share of world flows from a peak of 41 per cent in 1994 to 19 per cent in 2000.
On regional basis Foreign Direct Investment inflows to Africa also declined from 10.5 billion in 1999 to 9.5 billion dollars in 2000, bringing down the continent's share of global investment flow to below one per cent,
The decline, it said, contrasted sharply with a 2.2 billion- dollar rise in 1999 and also marked the first drop since the mid-1990s.
Member countries of the Southern Africa Development Commission (SADC) accounted for about 44 per cent of the regional inflows, underscoring the importance of integration.
The report said for Africa to facilitate FDI inflows there was the need for governments to be proactive in investment promotion as well as implementing harmonious economic policies.
It also called on developing countries to identify and develop their strength as far as products they can market to investors are concerned.
"This new strategy would call for targeting location needs and the identification and nurturing of cluster industries that capitalise on the countries' competitive advantage."
The report also called for forging linkages between foreign affiliates and local firms to provide strongest channel for diffusing skills, knowledge and technology.
Dr Apraku said the report was disappointing for Africa and added that it called for a critical look at policies and programmes to attract FDI to the continent to boost economic activity.
He called on research institutions to offer constructive suggestions for policy review. Dr Joseph Abbey, Director of CEPA, said technology advancement held the key for the continent's economic progress and prosperity.
He said linkages between foreign and domestic firms could enhance benefits of FDI, emphasising however that not all linkages were beneficial.
Dr Abbey identified lack of efficient domestic suppliers of sophisticated goods and services as a key obstacle to creating beneficial local linkages.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Tema (Greater Accra) 18 September 2001 - The Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) at Tema has drawn up a new development programme to increase processing of cocoa beans from 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes in the next five years.
Chocolate production, which makes up only five per cent of the company's products, would be increased from 1,950 to 6,350 tonnes when the new plan takes effect next year.
Paul Awua, Managing Director said on Monday during a tour of the factory by Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Darteh (RTD), Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development that these projected increases are to bring up sales volume from 190 billion to 603 billion cedis. It will also increase profitability from 18 billion to 116 billion cedis per annum.
Awua said, the programme involved investing in new machinery but this had been delayed because of plans in the past to divest the company.
He said the CPC had three factories but two of them based in Takoradi had been divested, leaving only the Tema factory and insisted that this should not be divested because it is the pride of the nation. "It is not only money that matters but image too", he said.
Awua said since the CPC became financially autonomous from the Ghana Cocoa Board in 1992 it has consistently made profits and its latest accounts show a profit of about 20 billion cedis.
With the expansion programme, more of Ghana's cocoa beans would be processed before export and assuming that value is added to all the 200,000 tonnes of the cocoa produced annually, foreign exchange earnings in the sector would be increased by 60 million dollars, he stated.
Awua said by May next year, CPC would get International Standards Organisation (ISO) 9002 certification for quality management. As part of plans to get ISO 14000 series certification, it is putting up a 700 million cedis waste treatment plant.
Capt. Effah-Darteh commended the management for the company's performance and urged them to assist the TMA in its sanitation programmes.
GRi../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 19 September 2001 - An African textile fair aimed at bringing together designers, producers and consumers of African fabrics to exchange ideas comes off in the Togolese capital, Lome, from November 9 to 18.
Also to participate are cloth weavers, handicraft producers, artists and patent specialists. The fair dubbed "African Cloth, African Colours" (PANCA-2001), will showcase loincloth and African textile.
Alain Kofi Kumodzi, Director General of Global Excel International (GEI), the main organisers of the fair, said the scope of the event is both cultural and commercial aimed at focusing on African designs as well as traditional cloths.
The objectives include setting up of a historical event of cultural and commercial exchange based on the loincloth, facilitating the opening of the African and Black cultural link to the Diaspora and the rest of the world and offering traditional African textile an extra window to the world market.
Kumodzi said the fair has been designed to guarantee participants and exhibitors effective business contact through asserting the traditions and cultural aspects of the African tradesman.
"Traditional loincloths made by local craftsmen will not be left out while producers of batik and tie and dye will also be encouraged by allocation of special zones to exhibit their wares."
He called on the Chambers of Commerce in the sub-region to co-ordinate their activities to ensure the success of the fair.
Kumodzi said the fair has laid down satellite exhibitions for weaving and sewing technology, raw materials, haberdashery and dye products. Other side attractions include quiz on loincloth designs, photo competition, guided tour of the Lome central market, cultural displays and an award ceremony.
GRi../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com