By Chioma Iruke
Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Rashid Bawa, has revealed that Ghana received $7.07 million in Foreign Direct Investments, (FDI) from Nigeria in the first half of 2021.
Mr Bawa represented by Samata Bukari, Consul General, Ghana Consulate, Lagos, spoke at the Africa Special Day of the ongoing 2021 Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF), on Wednesday.
He said, “Virtually all internationally oriented Nigerian business establishment have footprints in Ghana either directly or indirectly in all sectors.
“According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), even in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria FDI in Ghana from January to June 2021 amounted to 7.07 million dollars.
“These are recorded investments in new projects,” he said.
The High Commissioner emphasized the need for intra-African trade, especially with the coming on board of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He said Africa’s share of trade with the rest of the world was insignificant, while the level of intra-regional trade was equally low with its attendant unfavourable impact on economic growth and development of the region.
“It is largely to address this situation through the stimulation of intra-African trade that the African Continental AfCFTA was established.
“It is to provide countries in the region with the opportunity to harness the collaborations and interrelationships of their economies to fully take advantage and utilise the socio-economic benefits market integration would provide.
“Indeed, stimulating intra-African trade and deepening African market integration would, hopefully, lead to increased volume of trade among African countries,” Bawa added.
