Ghana is a gateway to UAE companies in West Africa – Dubai Chamber
The President of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hamad Buamim, has said, Ghana is a market of strategic importance to Dubai and a gateway for UAE companies to access promising markets across the West Africa subregion.
According to Mr Buamim, who also is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chamber, Ghana has become the preferred market for Dubai-based companies that are looking to expand their presence into Africa and tap into new investment opportunities.
The preference of the nation among its peers in the subregion, he noted, is a result of the numerous efforts made by the Ghanaian government to open up various sectors of the economy to foreign investors and diversify the country’s trade relationships.
“Ghana is fast emerging as a preferred market for Dubai-based companies that are looking to expand their presence into Africa and tap into new investment opportunities. A number of factors have been fuelling this trend, such as ongoing efforts by the Ghanaian government to open up various sectors of the economy to foreign investors and diversify the country’s trade relationships,” stated Mr Buamim.
Companies in Dubai, according to the Chamber, have capitalised on the trade potential that Ghana offers. For instance, Dubai’s non-oil trade with Ghana in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic reached $2.1 billion which is the highest since 2014, registering a 77.3% growth compared to 2018.
In 2020, Ghana ranked sixth on Dubai’s list of African trading partners. In the first five months of this year -2021- trade between Ghana and the UAE improved, resulting in the country being ranked second in the West Africa region for the Dubai Chamber members in the exports and re-exports of goods.
Ghana, per the UAE’s Global Business Forum (GBF) survey conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry and The Economist Group, alongside Nigeria has been adjudged the most favourable country for investment in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Out of the surveyed 158 global investors, 94 global investors (60 percent of those surveyed) said they prefer to invest in Ghana and Nigeria to other SSA countries.
Ghana was selected by global investors ahead of countries such as South Africa, Rwanda and Kenya.
Commenting on Ghana’s participation in this year’s Expo, Mr Buamim stated that the evolving Dubai-Ghana trade relationship would front and centre at the Global Business Forum Africa (GBF Africa), the first major business forum taking place at Expo 2020 Dubai.
In recent years, several initiatives and incentives have been rolled out to boost Dubai’s value proposition to businesses and investors and enhance the emirate’s economic competitiveness.
Competitive advantages offered include 100% foreign ownership, 10-year and 5 year “golden” residency visas, virtual working visas, world-class infrastructure, excellent logistics facilities, strategic geographic position enabling easy access to markets across the GCC, Middle East, Africa and Asia.
It was recently announced that a new “green visa” will soon be introduced to expand the self-residency status (in other words, employer sponsorship is not required) to investors, entrepreneurs, highly skilled individuals, top students and graduates.
Recently, a new foreign trade strategy was announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to raise the value of the emirate’s trade to AED 2 trillion ($544 million) over the next five years.
Dubai International Chamber, one of three new chambers under Dubai Chamber, was established to strengthen partnerships with global corporations, investors and entrepreneurs and boost Dubai’s status as a major trade hub. Africa is a major pillar of this strategy as a market that is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
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