SDG investment platform for Ghana goes live
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) joined the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) SDG Impact, and Global Investor for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, to outdoor the “SDG Investment Platform” tool that provides market intelligence on investment opportunities in Ghana and beyond.
The soft-launch event officially set in motion, UNDP’s enterprising initiative to accelerate SDG-aligned investments in the country and beyond.
The launch in Ghana, was organized in concurrence with the global launch at the margin of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development and the SDG Investment Fair.
The SDG investment platform offers insight, data, and impact measurement tools to both local and foreign investors, with the purpose of fast-tracking attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The SDG investor map, a key feature of the platform, provides market intelligence for private sector investors, by translating country-level SDG gaps and priorities into investment opportunities.
Speaking at the event, Yofi Grant, the CEO of GIPC, said the investment platform aligns with the GIPC’s objective to identify and promote investment opportunities in the country.
He said, “UNDP’s market intelligence tool is closely aligned with the mandate of GIPC. The SDG Investor Map is a concrete and comprehensive set of information that helps us to identify investment opportunities that we can promote in support of the government’s vision.
“The implementation of the SDG investor map follows exactly the approach we take at GIPC. This will support our efforts in facilitating an attractive investment framework and advocating for investors’ concerns in policymaking,” Grant said.
He said the GIPC will continue working with the UNDP to facilitate sector focused investments, and that, the Centre counts on the power of the SDG investor platform to make Ghanaian opportunities available to international audiences.
The standardized 8-step approach of the investor map, will ensure that business community is directed to country-specific investment prospects based on policy priorities, developmental needs, and investment potential as it highlights these opportunities and their expected SDG-impact. This valuable investor toolkit also gives intel on local market conditions, in addition to a gross evaluation of the entrepreneurial environment.
With Ghana’s SDG financing gap estimated at US$43 billion per year, the investment platform avails the means to correct the shortfalls, and create a conducive investment climate to drive the country’s development agenda.
Meanwhile, the platform has also been identified as an exciting prospect to assuage GIPC’s efforts in raising GHC100 billion through investments as envisaged in the country’s Coronavirus Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Programme (Ghana CARES).
Already, the SDG Investor Map has pointed out Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) within five identified priority sectors in Ghana – agriculture, infrastructure, communications, healthcare and consumer goods – where the private sector can explore. Notable among these IOAs are; construction of affordable housing, provision of internet hotspots for rural areas, digitalization of healthcare delivery, and scaling up aquaculture.
“We will go deeper in each of the five sectors so that we go beyond the provision of market and sector intelligence to actual money invested in Ghana. It is our hope, especially in this Decade of Action, that the SDG Investor Maps will accelerate investments needed to progress towards the achievement of the 2030 goals”, Silke Hollander, the UNDP deputy resident representative in Ghana said.
The platform outlines actionable frameworks for investors to leverage IOAs, through assessment of business environment, market demand, and possible sources of capital or support.
The SDG Investor Platform can now be accessed via sdginvestorplatform.undp.org.
