New agreement with UK to accelerate 24-hr economy strategy

The United Kingdom and Ghana have signed a landmark partnership agreement aimed at fast-tracking government’s 24-Hour Economy initiative and strengthening bilateral cooperation on industrialisation.

The new agreement was formalised during the bi-annual UK-Ghana Partnership for Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) Steering Committee Meeting held at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Accra.

It underscores both countries’ commitment to creating a competitive manufacturing base in West Africa and scaling up investment in Ghana’s priority sectors.

The event was co-chaired by the Deputy Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Sampson Ahi, represented by Kofi Abu, Chief Commercial Officer and Director for Industries at the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, along with Richard Sandall, the UK’s Development Director at the British High Commission.

The meeting brought together key players including the Ministry of Trade, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, British International Investment (BII) and officials from the British High Commission.

At the heart of the event was a new cooperation agreement signing between the UK government and Ghana’s Ministry of Trade, aimed at strengthening the policy framework needed to operationalise the 24-Hour Economy agenda.

The strategy is a major national drive to boost productivity, create jobs and attract more private capital by promoting continuous industrial activity across key value chains.

“This agreement builds on the JET Programme’s record of supporting policy reforms, facilitating investment and linking Ghanaian enterprises to sources of finance, including UK development finance institutions,” said Richard Sandall. “It marks a new phase in our collaboration – moving from planning to acceleration.”

The new deal also reinforces the JET Programme, which has already helped catalyse over      £124million in investment and created more than 7,000 jobs in Ghana’s manufacturing and agro-processing sectors.

Recent UK-backed investments facilitated by JET and BII were also highlighted during the meeting, underscoring the UK’s role as a leading development partner.

Mr. Sandall, speaking in an interview after the event, recognised that “one of our biggest success stories is the automotive sector. With JET’s support, and through policy and regulatory reforms led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana has gone from having no international car assembly presence to hosting 12 or 13 companies”.

He noted that these firms are now employing thousands of people, producing vehicles locally and contributing significantly to government revenue through taxes and increased household incomes.

“When we launched JET, our goal was to catalyse £50million in additional investment across targetted sectors. We’ve already more than doubled that. In the programme’s fifth year we’ve attracted approximately £110million in investments, a clear sign of the collaboration between the UK and Ghana’s effectiveness.”

He added that they are exploring ways to extend the programme beyond its current timeline, “because the need for economic transformation isn’t going away. It remains at the centre of the UK-Ghana development relationship”.

“It’s also important to acknowledge that UK aid is evolving globally and in Ghana. Budgets are tighter than before and that means we need to do more with less. But because JET has already laid a strong foundation and built effective partnerships, we’re confident the programme will continue to deliver impact even with limited resources.”

Ultimately, inclusive growth and economic transformation will always be at the heart of the UK-Ghana partnership and that commitment remains strong, he added.

Mr. Abu also added that government is focused on agribusiness as one of the number-one game changer to transform Ghana’s economy – “and this is what the JET is positioned to support us with”.

This, he said, will help the country to produce good quality products for both local and foreign markets.

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