The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), held its first breakfast meeting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Investor Map utilization, with the goal of channelling investments into major investment opportunity areas identified in the SDG Investor Map for Ghana.
The SDG Investor Map which was initiated by the UNDP was introduced earlier this year to help steer capital into inclusive and sustainable investments in key economic sectors. The breakfast meeting focused on the health and ICT sectors.
According to the CEO of the GIPC Yofi Grant, “as a nation seeking development and the attainment of the SDGs, we are recognizing the need for a new global development strategy, which calls for stronger public-private partnerships to overcome the pre-existing yearly SDG financial gap of $200 billion in Africa. As such, we as government and the GIPC will actively support and guide investors who seek to invest in any of the priority sectors outlined in the SDG Investor Map to propel national development”.
“Enormous opportunity exists in the ICT sector and health sector that prospective investors can tap into to make profitable gains while making positive contributions to society, the environment and the economy at large”, Yofi Grant added.
The Map provides market intelligence for private sector investors, to channel finance towards development needs, the attainment of the SDGs and national priority sectors.
The UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana, Dr Angela Lusigi noted that the SDG Investor Map Pipeline Builder tool, an intermediary that streamlines the investment origination process to drive more capital to SDG focused SMEs in emerging markets, has successfully identified a base value of USD 39 million worth of SME investments in Ghana. This, she said, is within six months up to September 2021 under the pilot scheme, and there is a potential for an additional USD 15.5 million. She pledged UNDP’s continued commitment and support towards making Ghana an investment destination of choice, and to support the SDG Investor Maps as a vehicle for strategic development investment.
“We know that the task to bridge Ghana’s current SDG financing gap of approximately USD 43 billion a year is daunting, but we remain resolute in our quest to support the mobilization of innovative financing for the implementation of the SDGs” ~ noted Dr Lusigi.
For Ghana, the SDG Investor Map provided information on 12 Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) across 5 priority sectors namely, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Technology & Communications, Healthcare and Consumer Goods.
The meeting saw a gathering of industry stakeholders and investors to discuss how to mobilize and channel capital into the development of the two sectors. Institutions present at the event include the Ghana Medical Association, Ministry of Health, Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana, the Ghana Pharmaceutical Chamber, Pharmacy Private Sector Hospitals, ICT firms, Members of the Chamber of Telecommunications, Financial institutions, as well as Government agencies such as Ghana Free Zones Board and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority.
UNDP and GIPC are in partnership to take forward the investment intelligence gathered to all relevant stakeholders to shape the policy and business environment and to further attract investment to impact lives and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Access the SDG Investor Map here: https://sdginvestorplatform.undp.org/