World Trade Centre Accra, has ended its week-long trade mission in the UK to boost trade and investment between the two Commonwealth nations.
The business forum, which took place on July 23 , was attended by over sixty executives from the Ghanaian and UK public and private sectors.
There was a keynote address from H.E. Papa Owusu-Ankomah (Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland), informative presentations, an engaging panel discussion, and business-to-business meetings.
The business forum, held in Central London, generated high-level dialogue among government and business executives on key topics such as export and project financing, local content requirements, the movement of goods and people, and opportunities to build the capacity and scalability of the Ghanaian private sector.
The forum was attended by UK’s Department of International Trade, UK Export Finance, UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), Tullow Oil, Ghana’s National Investment Bank (NIB), SAS Finance Group, Renaizance Holdings, and Misyl Energy amongst others.
Several companies which attended the forum held additional meetings during the week to build upon initial discussions held during the forum.
The UK trade mission was led by Jane Reindorf-Attoh, Managing Director of WTC Accra, and Togbe Afede XIV, the Executive Chairman, WTC Accra, and Board Member of World Trade Centres Association (WTCA).
The delegation comprised seventeen Ghanaian business executives from various sectors seeking investment and partnership opportunities in the UK.
On Tuesday, July 24th, the delegation visited the House of Commons and met with Andrew Rosindell, MP for Romford Constituency; Laurence Robertson, MP of Twekesbury; and Adam Afriye, MP for Windsor, to seek the politicians’ assistance to help drive policies that would create an enabling environment to increase trade between Ghana and the UK.
Specific issues discussed included but were not limited to the length of time and challenges of obtaining a UK Visa and the need to increase the UK’s participation in Ghana’s finance and banking sector.
The delegation concluded their trip by visiting the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to gain an overview of the company’s Africa strategy, and held discussions on how LSE can increase its engagement with Ghana’s Stock Exchange.
