BeLAZ, the Belarusian manufacturer of heavy mining equipment, is set to visit Ghana next week following an agreement reached on the sidelines of the Ghana-Belarus Business Forum in Minsk.
President John Dramani Mahama announced the visit at the forum, where he was pitching Ghana to Belarusian investors as a destination for industrial manufacturing and mineral processing partnerships.
“I am pleased to note that we have already reached an agreement with Belaz, manufacturers of mining equipment, to visit Ghana next week,” President Mahama said.
Belaz produces some of the world’s largest haul trucks and is a dominant supplier to mining operations globally. Ghana’s mining sector, which includes gold, bauxite, manganese and iron ore production, is one of the largest in Africa and is currently at the centre of a government push to move beyond raw material exports into value addition and mineral processing.
President Mahama told the forum that opportunities exist in mining services, mineral processing, industrial equipment, manufacturing, textiles, housing, construction materials and renewable energy, and that his administration’s approach was to process and manufacture within Ghana rather than export raw materials.
The President also disclosed that Ghana has a 10-billion-dollar, five-year infrastructure programme covering roads, railways, ports, energy and logistics, and invited Belarusian engineering companies to participate in those projects.
He said Belarusian companies that establish themselves in Ghana would gain access to the country’s domestic market, an ECOWAS regional market of over 400 million people, and a continental market of 1.4 billion people through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Ghana and Belarus signed three memoranda of understanding at Monday’s forum, including one establishing a joint commission for economic cooperation, setting the institutional ground for the kind of industrial partnership the Belaz visit is expected to advance.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
