A trade delegation from Ghana, held a Trade Summit on Sunday, a first of its kind for a tier-2 city like Madurai, which saw top bureaucrats from the West African nation explaining why their country was the most conducive place to do business. Two memorandums of understanding were also signed during the summit held on Sunday.

According to a press release issued on Monday, the High Commissioner of Ghana to India Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh said that Ghana was one of the most peaceful countries in West Africa with a stable government and electoral transparency and accountability. The World Bank, in 2019, ranked it as the best place for doing business, he said.

The country had a vibrant business environment with huge potential in sectors such as manufacturing, digital technology, hydrocarbons, and industrial minerals such as gold, lithium and manganese, besides tourism. 

The country was growing very fast in agriculture and agro-processing, financial and telecommunication sectors. Ghana invites investments in hospital services, research and development, infrastructure, oil refineries and home-based airlines development.

Under the African Continent Free Trade Agreement, industrialists would have an opportunity to expand their business across the continent as well, he said. He urged Indian companies, especially the ones from Madurai, to explore the opportunities in Ghana.

Minister Counsellor High Commission of Ghana Adjei Ernest Nana added that the country’s ‘one district one factory’ was an attractive offer for industrialists. In addition to having the Africa Continent Free Trade Agreement to expand their business, the Indian industrialists manufacturing within Ghana would have a tax holiday of 10 years and they could import machinery to Ghana free of import duty. He said that tourism could be one of the best areas for Madurai and Ghana to work together. 

Head of Branch Secretariat, Ministry of External Affairs and Protector of Emigrants M. Venkatachalam said that Africa and India were going to be the driving forces of the future. India – Africa trade volume was worth 70 billion dollars and growing, he said. 

Collector Aneesh Sekhar, in his address, said that Madurai was the hub of many industries, including manufacturing, automobiles, IT and food processing. Of late, the city was emerging as the hub for medical tourism. Besides, the city was already a tourism hub, especially for spiritual and heritage tourism. The city was ready to work with Ghana on many fronts, he said. 

Trade Commissioner of IATC – Ghana Arunraja Periasamy, who hails from Madurai’s Melur, was instrumental in conducting the summit in Madurai. Indian industrialists in Ghana – James Rajamani and Asif Iqbal – explained to the gathering what it means to do business in Ghana. Jiovio Healthcare and Rio Children Hospital, two Madurai-based healthcare providers, signed MoU with Ghanaian officials during the summit.