The UK Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, has affirmed the support of his country for Ghana to stick to the conditions of the IMF programme this year.
“We know it has not been easy, that is why we are backing you to stick to the conditions of the IMF programme this year, so you can continue to alleviate the economic pressures Ghanaians face,” he said.
Mr Mitchell also expressed delight that the IMF Board had approved the first review and second disbursement for Ghana.
“When I came here just over a year ago in December, it was the first meeting that I had with the IMF team and the progress since then has been absolutely undoubted,” he said.
Mr Mitchell was speaking at the opening of the ninth edition of the UK-Ghana Business Council meeting at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.
Meeting
The Ghana team at the council meeting which was led by the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, comprised Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK, Papa Owusu Ankomah; the Secretary to the Economic Management Team, Prof. Joe Amoako-Tuffuor; the Deputy Minister of Transport, Hassan Tampuli, and the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu.
The rest were a Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Kumah; the Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, and the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yaw Afriyie.
The UK delegation included the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson; the Head of Climate and Investment, Nana Frimponmaa; Head of Trade and Economics, Suman Mounsey, and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Ghana, Baroness Kate Honey.
The rest were the Market Access and Trade Policy Advisor, Charlene Mills; the Department of Business and Trade Country Director, Giselle Agyare; the Deputy Development Director, Richard Sandall, and the Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell.
Support
The UK minister acknowledged that although the economic discussions between the two countries had witnessed some challenging times, Britain would continue to support, deepen mutual trade and create investment opportunities for job creation and prosperity.
The minister said the UK was also designing a new programme to ensure long-term economic and financial stability for Ghana.
He expressed appreciation to his counterpart and team at Ghana’s Ministry of Finance for their continuous engagements and support.
Mr Mitchell further described the UK-Ghana Business Council as the foundation of the economic trade and investment partnership of both countries and said since the first meeting in 2018 “we have seen increased UK investment, stronger partnership and also supported better foundations for growth”.
He said as the economic headwinds had been strengthened, the last year had shown how the UK and Ghana were partners in both good and challenging times.
Commerce and trade
The Vice-President said prospects of commerce and trade between Ghana and the UK were encouraging, with major export of cocoa, canned tuna and banana from Ghana, while products such as machinery, electronics and chemicals were also imported from the UK.
He reiterated that Ghana remained one of the attractive business destinations on the African continent for foreign direct investment and said the commencement of trading activities under the AfCFTA agreement was also expected to boost economic growth on the continent.
“It is my hope that a much stronger partnership would be realised between Ghana and the UK, especially in trade and investment, while we explore further opportunities in key areas of the economy such as transitioning to electric mobility in public transportation,” Dr Bawumia added.
He expressed hope that the council meeting would further enhance bilateral and economic relations between the two countries.
The Vice-President further observed that since the council was established, there had been tremendous improvement in the areas of cooperation in agro processing, garment, textile, pharmaceutical, road and airport infrastructure.