The South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Luluma Xingwana, has stated that South Africa regards Ghana as a strategic partner on the continent because both countries share values of democracy, good governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Speaking during the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Investment Summit in Accra, Ghana, she said that South Africa has been a key development partner in Ghana as evidenced by the number of South African companies that have invested in the West African country.
The DBSA has identified Ghana as one of the key investment nodes, due to its economic growth potential and its strategic location for trade within the region, as well as with Europe and North America.
Ghana is one of the fastest growing economies on the continent, driven largely by the oil, gas and mining industries, which all require urgent and significant infrastructure development.
“We are a vision-led and purpose driven, state-owned enterprise. Our vision is to have a prosperous and integrated resource efficient region, progressively free of poverty and dependency. Our purpose is to bend the arc of history towards shared prosperity across Africa. As such, we use insights to develop bespoke and integrated infrastructure solutions for our clients. As development practitioners, our expertise and solutions range from project planning, preparation, financing, building and maintenance,” said Mdu Dlamini, Head of Coverage, Financial Institutions and ex. SADC Region at DBSA.
The DBSA has already funded a number of key infrastructure projects in the country. These include the USD55, 6 million development of terminal three of Kotoka International Airport. The project created more than 760 jobs during the construction phase with a further 900 permanent jobs expected over the next few years. The project will create 5,000,000 capacity for the airport over the next 15 years.
Another key investment is the USD53 million Cenpower project, which has a target commission date of 2019. At full operation, the project will contribute 30% capacity to the national electricity grid. In the last 18 months, the DBSA has approved an additional investment of USD200 million towards energy infrastructure in Ghana. These include Genser Ghana Limited (USD100 million), which is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) supplying power to the gold mining sector, Tema Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal (USD61 million) and Early Power Limited (USD35 million) that supply re-gasified LNG and power in the Tema power enclave, respectively.
“We are honoured to have gained such a wealth of insight and networks through this Summit. As one of the leading Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) on the continent, we will turn this knowledge into tailored financial solutions for socio-economic development impact in Ghana and the rest of our continent,” concluded Dlamini.
