Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM) and United States of America Export-Import Bank (EXIM) have signed a $300 million deal.
The deal was penned on the platform of Ghana’s One-District One-Factory (1D1F) industrialisation programme.
The agreement would ensure EXIM provides the funds in guarantees for clients of GEXIM to source and procure machinery and equipment from the United States of America (USA) for their factories under the 1D1F initiative.
Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, represented Ghana at the signing ceremony, while Bonnie Cybulko, Acting Vice President, Industrial and Project Finance Division, EXIM, signed on behalf of the United States in Accra.
It was done in the presence of the United States Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sanders Sullivan, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, Board of Directors and management of GEXIM, as well as other officials of the US Embassy in Ghana and EXIM Bank.
Mr Ofori-Atta explained that the funding was a necessary intervention to improve the capacity of local industries by retooling and adopting new technology to produce goods and services efficiently.
Increased production, he said, provided Ghana added opportunities to take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to export goods and services to the USA market.
Despite positive macroeconomic growth over the past two years, he stated that, rising levels of importation of goods and services had resulted in the instability of the Ghana Cedi against other currencies.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to pursuing industrialisation to reduce importation, increase export and create employment opportunities for Ghanaians.
On her part, Ambassador Sullivan stated that the agreement was to address challenges faced by Ghanaian businesses and entrepreneurs in accessing credit at affordable rates with soft repayment terms to aid business expansion.
“This collaboration between our respective Export-Import banks creates a welcome opportunity for companies to adopt cutting-edge USA technologies and equipment and to finance them at competitive rates.
That means companies can grow, become more competitive, hire more workers and pay taxes that can finance Ghana’s development,” she added.
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