Ghana and China’s Hunan Province have committed to strengthening economic cooperation in agriculture and agribusiness, smart industrialisation, and sustainable mineral processing, following high level talks at the Fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo.
These agreements were reached when Mr Cao Zhiqiang, Vice Governor of Hunan, hosted Ghana’s Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, for bilateral discussions, which centred on building stronger bilateral trade, investment, and technical exchanges between Ghana and the Hunan Province.
Madam Ofosu-Adjare commended the Hunan Province for the level of industrialisation driven by innovation and underscored the need for partnership.
The Province’s achievement was a clear indication that, by walking shoulder to shoulder, Ghana could leverage the strategic relationship to leapfrog its industrialisation agenda, she said.
In addition, the Minister highlighted the country’s stable business environment, rule of law, competitive returns on investment, and youthful and growing middle-class as some of the key considerations not to be ignored by potential investors from the Province.
She underscored Ghana’s strategic location as a gateway to serve the region, as well as global markets.
The Minister invited more Hunan multinational companies to explore business opportunities in the manufacturing, garments and textiles, pharmaceutical, and components manufacturing sectors and to take advantage of the 24-hour economy policy.
Bilateral trade between Ghana and Hunan Province was estimated at $2.5 billion by the end of 2024, with at least eight top multinational companies from Hunan operating in Ghana.
These include Zonda, Sany, Hunan Construction, and Zoomlion.
The Minister extended an invitation to the Vice Governor to lead a high-level delegation to explore more business opportunities in Ghana in the course of the year.
Mr Cao, on his part, commended the Minister for making a strong case for investment in Africa, especially Ghana, during the CEO Dialogue.
According to the Vice Governor, the Province was committed to partnering the Government of Ghana and the private sector to enhance industrialisation for their mutual benefit.
Touching on the current economic development of the Province, the Vice Governor emphasised that it was one of the fastest-growing provinces in China, with 2024 GDP hitting approximately 5.4 trillion yuan (about $760 billion), growing around 5.5 per cent year-on-year, slightly above the national average.
He noted that the tertiary sector (services) contributed significantly, while advanced manufacturing and the digital economy expanded rapidly.
The Province, Mr Cao said, had positioned itself as the hub of industrialisation, innovation and research, aerodynamics, logistics and infrastructure development, and education among others.
He agreed to the proposal by the Minister for technical exchanges between Ghana and Hunan to enhance skills and expertise development in critical sectors of the economy.
