UK businesses seeking for opportunities in Ghana
Businesses in the United Kingdom are seeking businesses opportunities in Ghana, Mr Carl Woolf, International Trade Advisor for the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) has said.
He explained that the opportunities would enable them establish long term relations with other Ghanaian companies, adding: “They also bring a wide range of their products, service and expertise”.
Mr Woolf made these remarks in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the side-line of the DIT London Trade Mission to Ghana forum, in Accra.
Eight UK companies participated in the Accra meeting held with the objective of establishing a long term-business relations and to gain deeper understanding of business practices in the Ghanaian market.
Representatives from the energy sector, infrastructure, engineering, and education and training companies participated in the trade mission.
Mr Woolf said Ghana’s economy has been less stable as compared to the last four years; a condition the UK companies may consider as a challenge, however, he expressed optimism that the situation would stabilise.
He explained that even though the market conditions in Ghana would be a key consideration for the UK companies, the mission would be to sell their products and services, and not to directly invest.
Madam Joy Maitland, a member of the trade mission said members had been informed that Ghana is ambitious for growth that could be achieved through having the right partnership.
She said there is a lot of enthusiasm among the UK delegation, though, they have been cautioned to understand the need to build the right partnership and to understand the offers and the requirement of Ghanaian businesses and organisations.
Madam Maitland who is a UK based Leadership Excellence Consultant, was of the view that companies must help individuals understand how to relate to others; it has to do with self-awareness, building a team, energising leadership and driving that improvement and enhancement in performance.
Mr Kwame Baah-Nuakoh, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Research and Corporate Affairs at The Royal Bank, Ghana, told the GNA that, Ghana needs to improve her business environment especially for private sector.
He said the size of economy stands at about $ 40 billion, which implies that there is more room for growth: “We need to accept that there is room for improvement, how do we improve it and what are the strategies government must come up with?”
As part of the European Regional Development Fund’s Global Growth Project, the mission aims to enhance the competitiveness of London SMEs in international markets; whereas, the mission’s participants have a range of objectives, including looking for local representatives, qualified distributors or agents and clients.
Source: GNA