FDIs to Ghana

Charles Benoni Okine looks at  the nature of Foreign Direct Investments  (FDI) inflows into the country under the Presidency of the late Professor John Evans Fiifi Attah Millis. 

In 2009 Ghana went through a peaceful transition with a change of government.
The smooth change which happened even after a very tight contest raised Ghana’s profile as the beacon of Africa when it comes to democracy, a phenomenon which increased the confidence level of investors across the world and they found the country a safe haven to invest.
The total number of projects registered for the year 2010 was 385 with a total estimated value of GH¢1.79 billion (US$1.279 billion) as against 257 projects registered for the year 2009 with a total estimated value of GH¢867.98 million (US$619.99 million).
This represented an increase of 49.81 per cent and 106.78 per cent in the total number of projects registered and the estimated value for those projects respectively.
The total initial capital transfers amounted to GH¢82.38 million (US$58.84 million) for the four quarters in 2010.
The total initial capital transfers for the corresponding year of 2009 amounted to GH¢152.03 million (US$108.6 million).
From the number of new projects registered in the fourth quarter the expected jobs created stood at 3,564.
The year 2011 was indeed described as an action year for the country as far as the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was concerned.
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) again exceeded its FDI inflows target was US$1.5 billion but this was exceeded to record US$5.32 billion for 2011.
The total number of registered projects was 514, an increase of over 33 per cent from 2010 resulting in a total estimated value of GH¢11.52 billion (US$7.68 billion).
Total FDI of GH¢10.23 billion (US$6.82 billion) with a local currency amounting to GH¢1.296 billion (US$864.08 million) was also recorded.
Total initial capital transfers in the period under review stood at GH¢319.94 million (US$213.29 million), an increase of 200 per cent from 2010.
Total jobs expected to be created was at the time was 46,761 with 3,589 out of the total being jobs for non-Ghanaians. This was, however, a significant decrease of more than 78.22 per cent from 2010.

International ranking 
Ghana was ranked as the third-best country in Africa that received Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) on the continent last year.
The latest United Nations World Investment report 2012 published a couple of weeks ago week said the country’s performance in attracting FDIs was largely based on the developments in the upstream petroleum sector, which is now being developed following the discovery of oil in commercial quantities half a decade ago.
The report authored by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Ghana -- which trails Nigeria and South-Africa in attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) - received approximately US$3.2billion FDI inflows at the end of 2011 compared to US$2.5billion two years ago and US$2billion in 2009.
UNCTAD through its research noticed that new oil- and gas-producing countries are emerging as major recipients of FDI as foreign investors look farther afield in search of oil and gas reserves.
The report said Ghana in particular benefitted from FDI in the newly-developed Jubilee oil field, where commercial production started in December 2010.
Inflows to West Africa according to the report were destined primarily for Ghana and Nigeria, which together account for some three-quarters of the sub-region’s inflows.
However, the UN Trade facilitation arm believes improvements in the way the country attracts FDI signals longer-term changes in the investment climate.