SOO Annex A_Trade and Investment Activities in Ghana.pdf

Prior and Current Trade and Investment Activities in Ghana Attachment J-1_SOO_Annex A

Prior Activities

USAID/Ghana informed its Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment Activity design by the results and lessons learned from previously implemented activities and assessments, as detailed below. Since 1992, USAID/Ghana implemented four trade and investment activities, including the Trade and Investment Project (TIP), Trade and Investment Reform Program (TIRP), Trade and Investment Project for a Competitive Export Economy (TIPCEE), and most recently, Trade Africa. Trade Africa provided USAID/Ghana the opportunity to implement activities in the trade and investment sector and demonstrate the need to develop a robust and systematic approach to improving trade regimes. The Ghana Feed the Future Agriculture Policy Support Project enhanced the enabling environment, improving access to land and opening opportunities for private sector investment and participation in irrigation infrastructure and high-quality seed supply. Through the Ghana Agricultural Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) activity, USAID developed new models to strengthen value chain links and introduce the outgrower business model. USAID/Ghana conducted the following assessments as part of the Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) (Annex A) and Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS)(Annex B); Ghana Women's Empowerment to Food Security and Youth Assessment (Annex C) and Private Sector Landscape Assessment (Annex D). USAID/Ghana also conducted a deep dive analysis of the GRA Customs division to ascertain the bottlenecks to a compliant and efficacious Customs regime and to pinpoint areas for targeted technical assistance (Annex E).

The Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment Activity is part of a portfolio of activities that USAID/Ghana designed to work together to address the GFSP purpose, which is to strengthen Ghana’s capacity to independently address poverty, hunger, and malnutrition by accelerating inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth and household income, while maintaining a resilient, well-nourished population, especially among women and children. The Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment Activity must accomplish several objectives to help the GFSP succeed, such as providing a deal pipeline for the Ghana Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture Activity and the West Africa Trade and Investment Hub, and ensuring that commercial crops are supported through other agricultural development activities.

Current Activities

The Contractor must improve the business enabling environment for trade and investment by improving investment promotion and trade facilitation based on commercial opportunities, and by leveraging political will to advance market-driven reforms. The Contractor mustwill facilitate private sector participation and investment that results in agriculture-led economic growth and increased income among agricultural sector participants, with a particular emphasis on women and youth. The Contractor must ensure that activities are aligned with USAID’s Private Sector Engagement policy, including enterprise-driven development, which means aligning with the private sector as co-creators of market-oriented solutions, and promoting market-based approaches that catalyze markets to solve business challenges more efficiently and sustainably. Through this Activity, the Contractor must align its efforts with and contribute to the implementation of the Prosper Africa initiative, Clear Choice, the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity initiative, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The Contractor must partner with the USAID West Africa Trade and Investment Hub to assist participating firms by providing business support services for Trade Hub partners and consulting about the enabling environment for exports. It will also collaborate with the USAID/West Africa Regional Mission on the regional trade regulatory environment. By collaborating with the USAID/Ghana Resilience in Northern Ghana II Activity and other USAID/Ghana economic growth activities, nutrition-sensitive messaging and approaches (e.g. cross-cutting activities where nutrition can be considered along value chains and across institutions, facilitating private sector engagement in the production and marketing of nutritious foods) can be disseminated to producer associations, women’s groups, and other private companies that will be involved in partner firms.

The Contractor must coordinate its technical approach with development partners, such as the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment Activity is aligned with the GOG trade facilitation roadmap and the Planting for Export and Jobs initiatives.