The Ghana International Trade and Conference (GITFiC) has said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a major driving tool for development in emerging economies like West Africa countries.
This was contained in the dubbed “21st Century Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to West Africa; The trade-off effects – GITFiC Probes” published by the GITFiC.
“Focusing on Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Sierra Leone, it is realized that West Africa’s FDI has increased tremendously since the 1980s when most countries in the sub region adopted various economic recovery programmes (ERP) and structural adjustment programmes.
“This has served so many purposes that merit the sub region in diverse ways. Notwithstanding, the opposition to FDI has a case to argue that FDI has its negative implication which needs to be considered, hence, it is very crucial and needful to strike a trade-off effect to ascertain the net effects of FDI on the sub-region before praising it,” GITFiC disclosed.
Based on this, the Ghana International Trade & Finance Conference – GITFiC presents its recommendations below:
The net benefit of FDI is not ascertained automatically whereas the benefits generated cut across various sectors and conditions in the recipient country.
Since financial inflow cannot be restricted, especially in developing countries where domestic savings cannot be used to run the economy smoothly, there is the need to assess the demerits of FDI and recommend plausible ways to improve on activities that attract FDI while limiting the activities that bring about various bottlenecks of FDI to host countries.
International trade is the source of FDI, hence ECOWAS is demanded to uphold the AfCFTA agenda in high esteem to promote FDI to the sub-region.
Various governments through their national investment agencies should work towards a conducive political and business climate to improve FDI inflow to the sub-region.
Stern scrutiny, in terms of documentation and the type of FDI to be allowed to the sub-region, should be checked rigorously before its establishment.
The government, through its national investment agencies, should be advised accordingly on the net effects of FDI into the country.
GITFiC recommends that environmental protection agencies in ECOWAS should make sure that environmental regulations in the sub-region are strictly implemented.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
