Multinational companies leaving Ghana is a mixed bag of losses and opportunities

10-05-2024

Multinational companies leaving Ghana is a mixed bag of losses and opportunities

The Ghana Investment Promotion Center has expressed concerns over the exit of some multinational companies from the Ghanaian market.

Over the past few months some notable multinational companies have announced their decision to suspend their operations in the country citing varied reasons with the latest being French Bank Société Générale, marking an end to their 20-year presence in the country.

Other notable  brands such as, Glovo, Nivea, Jumia Foods, Unilever Ghana’s Lipton Tea, Dark and Lovely, BET 365, Game, and BIC, have also taken a decision to exit the Ghanaian market sparking concerns about the possible effect on job creation and a broader economic growth issues.

Mr Edward Ashong-Lartey , Director, Investor Services at the GIPC who spoke on the development on the Zed in Morning show on Monday, May 6, 2024 said the development is not a good news for the country’s investment ecosystem and ,ore especially , the GIPC whose preoccupation is invite and retain foreign Direct Investments into the country.

He however emphaised that the reasons for their exit could be varied and not necessarily a measure of how well the economy was performing emphasizing  that government has over the period made conscious efforts to make the investment climate in the country conducive for the investor community.

“Most of these huge companies want to focus on other markets, so for Société Générale, for example it is not that they were  not making profit, it is a decision taken to focus on new markets. So we have a mixed bag. Others feel that their expectations were not met and so they have to move”, he explained.

He noted however that the exit of these multinational companies could create a platform for wholly owned Ghanaian companies to fill in those positions on the market.

 “We have confidence in the economy .sometimes these exits creates the opportunities for our wholly owned Ghanaian companies”

Mr Edward Ashong-Lartey revealed that for example in 2023, 62 wholly owned Ghanaian companies with a total investment volume of some $3.8 billion registered with the Ghana Investment Promotion Center as against 122 international businesses with investment volumes amounting to 649.58 million registering with the Center within the same period.

He said it was encouraging to realize that in spite of the economic challenges facing the country, indigenous Ghanaian companies continue to invest heavily in the county signifying the confidence they repose in the Ghanaian economy.

  “Last year Ghanaian had huge investments that tells you that in spite of what is going on, Ghanaians still have confidence in the economy. For us it is heartwarming to see our own people investing significant amounts in the Ghanaian economy “

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GNBCC | News