The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) represented by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Yofi Grant, has been re-elected as the Regional Director (Sub Saharan Africa) for the Steering Board of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).
The elections took place during the 25th WAIPA General Assembly and World Investment Conference, which occurred in a hybrid format on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, at the Dubai Exhibition Centre UAE alongside Expo 2020 Dubai, under the theme “Regeneration of IPAs in a New Decade.”
Prior to the re-election of the GIPC, the Centre Under the CEO’s leadership, Yofi Grant was elected to the directorship role in 2019 with the key objectives of Leveraging partnerships and linkages across the continent to eliminate poverty, improving cooperation amongst African Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs), and Creating platforms for African IPAs to share best practices and improve service delivery.
Driven by the mandate, the Ghanaian government (the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and other government organizations) collaborated with the World Economic Forum to establish the SDGs Country Financing Roadmap (CFR), with the primary goal of unlocking capital to fund the SDGs.
Again, in cooperation with WAIPA, the GIPC conducted a webinar titled “Manoeuvring Through Turbulent Times: The Case of IPAs, FDI, and COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa,” which was attended only by African IPAs. The goal was to increase collaboration among African IPAs in order to confront the worldwide pandemic and devise strategies to continue IPA operations in the face of it.
With a second term, the GIPC, led by Yofi Grant, looks to aggressively pursue greater collaboration among African IPAs to support regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, as well as attract more investments that will result in positive economic, environmental, and social benefits for the African continent during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We believe that post covid the future is even more promising and elevating the positioning of African IPAs is essential in bringing the opportunities in Africa in the light of the SDGs to bear. Africa is the future, and the future is us.” said Yofi Grant.
About WAIPA
WAIPA is a non-governmental organization that was established under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1995 in Geneva as an Association under Swiss law. The organization provides an opportunity for Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) to network and exchange best practices in investment promotion.
Its objectives among others are to promote and develop understanding and cooperation amongst IPAs, strengthen information-gathering systems, promote the efficient use of information and facilitate access to data sources, and share country and regional experiences in attracting foreign investment and enhancing outward investments.
WAIPA is currently made up of 125 IPAs across the world.
