Ghana Free Zones Board recognised for excellence
The Ghana Free Zones Board has been awarded the 2014 “International Star for Leadership in Quality” prize at the 2014 International Quality Awards for making qualitative leadership and management style its core focus.
The 2014 International Quality Awards was held at the Palais des Congress Convention Hall in Paris, France by Business Initiatives Directions and BID Group One.
At a press briefing, the Investor Support Services Manager of the Ghana Free Zones Board, Hajia Hanatu Abubakar, said the award was in recognition of the board’s hard work in the area of promoting export-oriented investment over the years.
“Being the only free zones body in Ghana and with no other competitive agency, we did not relent in our efforts but rather continued to serve our customers to the best of our ability,” Hajia Abubakar stated.
The Ghana Free Zones Board was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 504, to develop Ghana into a hub for the manufacture and processing of commodities for export. In addition, it is also to help promote enterprise development, create employment opportunities and increase foreign exchange earnings for the country.
The board was also set up to enhance the technical and managerial skills and expertise of Ghanaians, as well as to direct technology transfer among others.
Since its inception in 1996, Ghana Free Zones Board has contributed immensely in promoting economic growth and development in the country. As a result of its work Ghana has emerged as one of Africa’s foremost destinations in terms of attracting both local and foreign investors.
“Not only do we attract businesses to locate their companies in Ghana, through our relationship and marketing efforts, we also create, maintain and enhance strong value-driven relationships between companies and their stakeholders,” Hajia Abubakar said.
She said Ghana’s strategic location as a middle-level income coastal country with two seaports that serve the landlocked countries in the sub-region made it an ideal location to set up industries to serve the West African market of over 300 million people.
She noted that Ghana’s rich natural resources such as oil, its public-private partnership processes, the country’s productive energy supply and numerous and generous incentives for investors necessitated the establishment of the free zones board in the country.
Hajia Abubakar added that, “contrary to the misconception that the Free Zone is a preserve for foreign companies, over 60 per cent of companies licensed by the free zones board are wholly Ghanaian owned and the rest are joint ventures between Ghanaian and other foreign nationals.”
She said the Board had registered 253 companies with a total capital injection of 2.52 US dollars.
According to Hajia Abubakar investments in the sector had generated employment for about 31,005 people and the enclave exports products to the value of about 23.92 billion US dollars annually.