Ghana has seen an increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, with an impressive 2.6 billion dollars in inbound investments planned for 2020. As a second wave of COVID 19 infections threatened to cripple the Ghanaian economy, the trend defied the expected sharp decline in FDI flows.
According to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the pandemic-induced drop in global FDI was 42 percent. However, the fall was highly uneven across developing regions, with -37 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, -18 percent in Africa, and -4 percent in developing Asian countries.
While FDI inflows to Ghana initially stalled during the first wave of infection and subsequent lockdowns, investments have since rebounded as a result of government policy responses to mitigate the impact of the health pandemic on businesses.
With significant investment inflows, 279 projects were registered within the year. This included 129 newly registered projects, 131 upstream developments, and 19 free zone activities spread across eight regions, with Greater Accra registering the most (231 projects). The aforementioned registered projects are expected to generate a total of 27,110 jobs.
China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and the Netherlands stood out as the nation’s leading sources of inward investment during the fiscal year under review.
Domestically, 172 existing companies contributed additional equity (cash and goods) totaling US$69.28 million as investment, while 52 wholly Ghanaian-owned ventures contributed GHC1,438.91 million.
While the strong performance of Ghana’s inbound FDI during the global health pandemic can be attributed to a number of factors, including effective government policy responses, the relaxation of travel restrictions, and, most importantly, the delivery and expected future development of vaccines in-country, the GIPC’s notable efforts as the leading Investment Promotion Agency also played a role.
