GE here to explore investment opportunities

By Edmund Mingle
Tuesday, 17 March 2009

A delegation from General Electric (GE), a multinational business entity investing in various fields, yesterday called on President John Evans Atta Mills, at the Castle, Osu in Accra, with the aim of finding which areas the company could invest to support the government’s economic drive.

According to the company, the recent peaceful political transition, coupled with country’s economic prospects, have given them an incredible confidence and faith in the Ghanaian economy.

Lazarus Angbazo, President and Chief Executive Officer (Sub-Sahara Africa) of GE, who led a delegation to the Castle, told the President that “we are happy about the prospects and how we can work together.”

He did not say which areas of the economy the company would be immediately investing in but said informed the President that GE has appreciable investments in the energy, health infrastructure, oil and gas, aviation and railway sectors among others.

He explained that the meeting was to afford the company the opportunity to know where the government would want to have the company’s investment in line with the government’s goals.

GE’s desire to invest in Ghana, he said was part of the company’s programme to focus more on investing in emerging markets, especially in Africa.

President Mills, in his remarks, described the visit as timely since it came at a time the government was getting started with programmes and investment initiatives towards creating jobs and building the necessary infrastructure for socio-economic development.

He welcomed the investment by GE and assured them of government’s support by creating a friendly business environment through removing all bottlenecks.

As government provides a good environment for them to invest, he reminded them as well as all investors of the need for them work within the legal framework in the country.

President Mills reiterated the government’s determination to be transparent in its dealings, adding that his administration wanted to ensure that the masses benefited from the resources of the country.

General Electric develops, manufactures, and markets a wide variety of products for the generation, transmission, distribution, control and utilization of electricity and provides a wide array of products such as aircraft engines, electronic appliances (kitchen and laundry appliances), industrial products and systems (lighting, electrical distribution, and control equipment), and materials (plastics, silicones, laminates, and abrasives).

In addition, GE, which is currently operating in 160 countries across the globe, offers a broad array of financial services including consumer, commercial, and industrial financing.