The Embassy of Israel in Ghana has committed itself to playing a key role in having Israeli companies invest in the Ghanaian economy.
Mr Ami Mehl, the new Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, hinted that by the end of the first quarter of 2016, the Isreali Government government would begin investing substantial resources in the Ghanaian economy.
He dropped the hint after a 10-hour tour of six companies belonging to the Zoomlion and the Jospong groups of companies to have first-hand experience of the operations of the companies and explore areas of partnership between Israeli and Ghanaian companies.
The tour took the Israeli Ambassador and his team to the faecal waste disposal site, popularly called ‘Lavender Hill’, the Mudor faecal treatment plant, which is still under construction, the Zoompak Transfer Station at Teshie which also has the first ever medical waste treatment plant in Ghana and the Yeeco Plastics Company in Tema.
Other places visited were a vehicle assembly plant, Universal Plastic Products and Recycling Limited (UPPR) at Borteyman, J. A. Plant Pool Ghana Limited at Dzorwulu and the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant at Adjen Kotoku.
Mr Mehl, who has been at post for six weeks, said he had heard a lot about the work of the Zoomlion Company and had decided to dedicate a whole day to touring its facilities.
He indicated his willingness to look for the right Israeli companies to partner Zoomlion and Jospong groups of companies.
Partnership
At a short meeting with the leadership of the groups after the tour, Mr Mehl said what Ghana needed was a partnership to spearhead its development and not aid.
“We would like to be partners. I like the idea about partnerships but not about support. Ghana needs cooperation, Ghana needs partners and we are happy to be there,” he said.
He indicated that there would be transfer of technology the moment he found the right partners in Israel to do so, adding, “I believe that within a few months Israel will be able to finance part of the activities of the groups.”
He remarked that he would like to see Ghana more developed than it was today, noting, however, that the country was on the right track.
Ghana needs industrialisation
The Executive Chairman of the Zoomlion and the Jospong groups of companies, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, lauded the Israeli Ambassador for taking a whole day, after just six weeks in office, to apprise himself of the operations of the companies belonging to the two groups.
He said what Ghana needed in order to develop was industrialisation because a country without an industrialisat base would import everything.
“Once you import, you go into recession because you are not controlling your own funding. When you engage in industrialisation, you control your money and money is the heart of every business,” he emphasised.
He was of the firm belief that Ghana could manufacture vehicles, which would create employment and also provide the country with foreign exchange.
“What we need is transfer of technology. We have done what we could but I think there is more in this 21st century to move into technology,” My Agyepong stated.
He asked for partnership from Israeli companies in all fields of endeavour, especially in technology and agriculture.
Earlier, Mr Emmanuel Boate, the Chief Operating Officer of the Jospong Group of Companies, in his welcoming address, had said the group was looking for investors who would partner it in terms of equity and participation.
He said the group had about 50 growing companies in the fields of oil, pipe-laying and other areas in Ghana and West Africa which could do with partnerships to help them to mature.
