Oscar Chirino's blog

To boost cocoa production in the country, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Ghana, has signed a 7 million Euro grant for a four-year Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme (CRIP). The Dutch Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Hans Docter, indicated that the grant is expected to leverage an additional private sector cocoa industry funding of 14 million Euros.

The 2014 Budget could be described as one with the most initiatives on institutionalized Funds ever in Ghana’s history. The Minister of Finance in presenting the budget for the next fiscal year, 2014, announced the establishment of the Ghana Infrastructure Fund, the SME Fund and the Contingency Fund.

The Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr. Nii Ansah-Adjei, has asked Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt effective strategies for their businesses and make use of modern technology to access global markets. He said one effective way for the local industry, especially small-scale businesses, to expand their goods and services and increase their cash flows was for them to target the foreign market.

Ghana tops the one spot in ease of doing business among countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. Ghana was followed by Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, according to the latest World Bank Group report on Doing Business.