Nana Akufo-Addo is on a European tour. After Scotland, Norway and the United Kingdom, he completes the penultimate stage in Switzerland this Saturday where he becomes, in 60 years, the first head of state in sub-Saharan Africa to go there for an official visit. From 3 March, he will be in neighbouring Belgium. The main objective of this historic trip is to attract foreign direct investment to Ghana. Arriving in Geneva on Friday, Nana Akufo-Addo is completing a historic state visit to Switzerland on Saturday 29 February. He is indeed the first president of a Republic of sub-Saharan Africa to be there in an official setting in 60 years. The President of Ghana thus returns the elevator to his Swiss counterpart Doris Leuthard, the first European leader to visit Ghana under the presidency of Akufo-Addo in July 2017. Switzerland is actually the penultimate stop on a European tour launched by the Ghanaian president on 22 February. First in Scotland, Nana Akufo-Addo then travelled to Norway and the United Kingdom. From 3 to 4 March, he will be in Belgium, where he will also meet with European Union leaders to discuss relations with his country. Beyond the political aspects, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ghana is one of the main backbones of this trip to Europe. Nana Akufo-Addo launched in 2018 a vast National Development Plan (NDP) that runs until 2057. Candidate for his own succession in 2020, he is actively seeking to attract investors to accelerate on his development goals. Read also: Business climate: these 22 countries that enhance business in Africa Ghana has more than $ 3.5 billion in FDI in 2018, against $ 3.32 billion in 2017, according to official data. But the state wants more. In the World Bank's Doing Business, Ghana posted a slight decline, coming 118th in the world and sixteenth in Africa in 2020. For Accra, the goal has recently become clear: to move into the top 100 in the world and the top 5 in Africa. To give itself the means, the government adopted in 2019 a series of reforms aimed at improving the country's attractiveness. Thanks to its dynamic and robust economy with GDP growth of 7.1% in 2019, Ghana remains one of the continent's driving forces. The country is a "cradle" of raw materials. The second largest cocoa producer in the world, he aims to take the throne from Côte d'Ivoire. But Ghana is also bauxite, aluminum, gold, diamond, manganese, cashew nuts ... In addition to these resources, investors are also interested in services, construction and recently the hotel industry. Two global giants – the French Accor and the American Marriott – are refining their projects there.

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