The Government of India says it will continue to remain Ghana’s largest trading partner while Ghana will also be biggest destination for India’s investment in the West African sub region.
Besides, India would continue to contribute to Ghana’s social economic development in terms of capacity building, especially in areas of education and human resource development.
The India High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Suganh Rajaram, made this known in Accra during an interaction with the Editor of the Ghanaian Times, Mr David Agbenu, on the sidelines of the commemoration of India’s 74th National Day (Independence Day) celebrated on August 15 every year.
On Ghana-Indo bilateral relations, High Commissioner Rajaram said, the foundation was laid by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah leading to the establishment of full-fledged diplomatic relations with Ghana in 1957.
Regarding trade relations with Ghana, Mr Rajaram said the volume of trade with Ghana in 2020 was US $ 2.5 billion as against US $ 4.5 billion during the same period in 2019, adding that the short fall in 2020 was as a result of the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic and lockdown which devastated businesses across the world.
He said Ghana’s stability and democratic credentials had made India to select Ghana as an investment destination citing the Komenda Sugar factory in the Central Region where an Indian strategic investor had been shortlisted to run the factory, thereby creating hundreds of job opportunities for Ghanaians.
Mr Rajaram also mentioned the railway sector in which India was assisting to transform the nation’s rail system into an ultra-modern network.
According to him, India had been supporting Ghana’s development by providing assistance in setting up projects through provision of Lines of Credit (LoC) and grants, adding that so far, Government of India has extended LoC amounting to about US$480 million to Ghana for various developmental projects.
He cited the India-Ghana Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence for ICT; the Jubilee House (Presidential Complex); the Pan African E-Network Project, Rural Electrification, Elmina Fish Harvest & Processing plant, as some of the projects.
Others are the Tema-Akosombo railway US$30 million to upgrade Potable Water Supply System in Yendi, a Foreign Service Training Institute, affordable and effective tele-education and tele-medicine services through specially developed web-based platforms, adding that Ghana was the pilot country to roll out the project, which is under implementation.
He said there was an increase in investments by Indian companies in Ghana including Tata, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Escorts, Larson & Toubro as well as several pharmaceutical companies.
On human resource development, he said India had provided capacity building opportunities for Ghanaians to study in India while others were taking courses through distance learning in Indian higher institutions of learning.
BY NORMAN COOPER
