An Investment /Business forum has been held as part of Ghana celebrations at the International Horticulture Expo 2023 in Doha, Qatar, which has been going on since October 2, last year.
It was on the theme: Cultivating sustainability: investing in Ghana’s Agriculture and organised by the Ghana Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).
It was attended by some businessmen and women in Qatar who were exploring investments in Ghana and some Ghanaian businessmen and women seeking markets to expand their businesses.
The forum also allowed participants to introduce their businesses.
There was also a panel discussion on “Sustainable Practices and Innovation in Agriculture” during which a Ghanaian female entrepreneur, Chief Executive Officer of Plot Enterprise Ghana Ltd, Mrs Patricia Poku Diaby, and the Director of Innovation on the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, Mr David Ofori shared their experiences on the subject. Some investors at the forum On the Qatari side, the Head of Operations, Lulu supermarkets, a company with 23 hypermarket branches , Mr Simon Alexander and head of Business Development, at Baladna ,Mr Francis Higgins shared their success stories.
Mrs Diaby, whose company is a cocoa processing facility, said contrary to the old order, customers were now demanding accountability and therefore called on businesses to keep up sustainable practices to expand.
Mr Ofori called for investments in Ghana to scale up capacity in its food supply chain.
He mentioned packaging, storage and reduction in post-harvest losses as areas which would benefit from partnerships and investments from Qatar.
Mr Higgins said from a number of 4,000 cows imported into Qatar in 2017 which provided 30 per cent of the state’s milk, the number of cows had increased to 27,000 satisfying a 100 per cent of its milk need.
Mr Alexander said his company’s markets across the state were exploring ways to expand.
Mr Banda Abdallah Z. Khalifa making a presentation on behalf of the CEO of GEPA
In a presentation made on her behalf, the Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, Osafohene Dr Afua Asabea Asare provided information on some processes for doing business in Ghana and invited investors into the country.
She explained various tax rates, tax holidays and concessions and the various resources available in the country. The Chief Executive Officer of GTA, Mr Akwasi Agyeman, in his presentation called for partnerships in infrastructure in natural tourism attractions in the country.
Mr Akwasi Agyeman speaking at the forum
He cited examples as pristine beaches, destinations for safari and ecotourism.