Ghana has recorded total investments of $869.47m, with total foreign direct investment value amounting to $785.62m between January and June 2020 as FDI inflow showed rare strength in the final moments of the second quarter of the year, undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total FDI of $785.62m represented investment recorded by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Petroleum Commission.
Worldwide, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic sent global FDI plunging by about 40 per cent – driving the total value of FDI below $1tn for the first time since 2005.
However, in spite of a sluggish start in the first quarter of 2020 and a worrying slump in the beginning of the second quarter due to severe lockdown measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, FDI to Ghana have begun to rebound resulting in a notable increase in FDI inflow for the first half of the year.
At the GIPC, 69 projects with a total estimated value of $688.74m was recorded by the end of June 2020. Of this, the total FDI component amounted to $627.52m while local component accounted for an estimated $61.22m.
The FDI value of $627.52m was a considerable increase of about 409.10 per cent from last year’s FDI value of $123.26m recorded within the same period (January to June 2019), depicting a strong performance irrespective of the global pandemic.
Out of the 69 projects recorded, the services sector registered a majority of 25 projects followed by the manufacturing and export trade sector with 21 and 11 projects, respectively. With regard to value, general trading recorded the highest amount of $246.05m.
This was tailed closely by the mining exploration sector with $231.02m having sealed some major investments such as the Chirano gold mine project for the exploration of minerals.
The manufacturing sector also saw significant investments valued at $170.67m on the back of some notable ventures such as a deal by Matrix industries for the manufacture of paper and aluminum products as well as the Rainbow Paints Limited project which is a joint venture between Ghana and Kenya for the manufacturing of paints and related products.
