Siemens to Establish Presence in Ghana Soon - President Akufo-Addo

Siemens AG, a German conglomerate and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe, will soon establish its presence in Ghana, President Akufo-Addo announced.

Siemen's decision and another by German car manufacturing giant, Volkswagen, to establish an assembly plant in Ghana, are testimonies to the efforts the Ghana Government had put into the creation of the necessary environment for the private sector to flourish.

President Akufo-Addo announced this Tuesday at the ongoing G-20 Compact with Africa Conference, in Berlin, Germany.

"We are not resting on our oars. We will continue to work hard to attract investments, domestic and foreign, into Ghana, so that we can unleash the sense of enterprise, creativity and innovation of the Ghanaian people, and help build a progressive, prosperous Ghana, whose citizens live in harmony and security," he said.

Additionally, HL Hamburger Leistungsfutter GmbH, a leading manufacturer and supplier of specialist feeds and compound feeds in Germany, signed an eight million Euro agreement to invest in Agricare Limited, a Ghanaian company.

Under the agreement, HL Hamburger will transfer technology in animal feed formulation and sales into Agricare. It will also enable Agricare to utilize more locally produced raw materials in the formulation of feeds.

"My Government's vision of moving our country to a situation beyond aid, i.e. a 'Ghana Beyond Aid', is aligned to Germany's Compact with Africa programme. Under my leadership, we are determined to discard the mindset of dependence on aid, charity and handouts, and aim towards becoming self-reliant, within the context of strong global co-operation.

"We are well aware that, in order for Ghana to harness the full benefits of the Compact Programme, whose objective is to ensure more private sector investments, we have to get our act together. We have to create an enabling environment for investments in Ghana not just to survive, but to thrive," he stated.

It is for this reason that the President said his administration had spent the last 21 months to improve the fundamentals of the Ghanaian economy, because "we believe that an improved macro-economy is a basic requirement for stimulating the investments we need for the significant expansion and growth of the national economy, and the generation of wealth and jobs."

Additionally, the President indicated that his Government had initiated and implemented policies to encourage and empower the private sector to grow and improve the country's economy, within the framework of macroeconomic stability.

"We believe that when the private sector flourishes, and when our enterprises become competitive, not just on the continent, but also in the global marketplace, then can we create the thousands and thousands of jobs our teeming masses of unemployed youth crave," he added.

President Akufo-Addo was confident that the "Compact with Africa conference" is respected and implemented, will enable Germany and the Africa Countries to re-shape their economics, and chart a new path of growth and development in freedom.

The Ghanaian Leader used the occasion to congratulate Angela Merkel for the exceptional quality of her leadership of Germany and Europe this last decade and more, against the backdrop of her impending departure from the German political scene.

"The Ghanaian people and I will regret her departure very much, for she has been one of the most outstanding leaders of modern times. We shall miss her very much," the President added.

Source: Source: ISD (Rex Mainoo Yeboah)

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