Ghana’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi led an official working delegation to South Africa to discuss and sign a cooperation agreement for the development of specific tourism projects in the West African country.
The agreement between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and the GUMA group was signed on the 26th of August 2019.
The cooperation agreement was signed by the Minister and Mr. Robert Gumede, the Executive Chairman for the GUMA Group and witnessed by Mr. Kwadwo Antwi, CEO of Ghana Tourism Development Company (GTDC) and Mr. Blacky Komani, Deputy CEO of Tourvest.
The areas of cooperation as agreed on in the MOU include: Assist in growing the Regulatory Environment, Review of Institutional Capacity, Assessment of Existing Facilities, Integrated Tourism Information, and Communication, Commercialization of the Ghana Tourism Sector, Management System for Commercial Concessions.
Other areas are Investment Promotion Strategy, Wild Life Restocking, Development of Local, Regional and Inbound Traffic Strategies, Training, Establishment of Grading Council, Transportation and Logistics Plan, Development of Tourism Products and Direct Investment by GUMA in tourism infrastructure.
Specifically, and in the short term GUMA will work with Ghana to develop products such as, but not limited to Investment in the ongoing Marine Drive Beach front, Ghana Centre of the World Project, A Cultural Village, “shipment of the Big 5 animals to safaris in Ghana, development of the Slave Trade Route plus the Gold and Cocoa Routes, Packaging of Traditional Festivals for international patronage and a Heroes Hall of Fame Museum.
During the visit, the Minister had the opportunity to have a firsthand look at the operations of some parks including the Kruger National Park in Nelspruit, the Lesedi Cultural village, the Tourvest Eco-Lodges, Gorge lifts amongst others.
There where high level meetings also held with Infrastructure Finance Partners, Messrs. IDC and PIC to discuss detailed arrangements for securing needed investments for the Marine Drive Tourism Investments Project and Ghana Centre of the World Project among others.
The Minister also met her colleague, South Africa Minister of Tourism for bilateral discussions on how to promote cultural exchange and increase cooperation within the two countries where Tourism and the Arts are concerned.
Members of the delegation included the CEO of GTDC Kwadwo Antwi, Akwasi Agyeman ofthe Ghana Tourism Authority, and Frederick Frimpong, Project Manager of the Marine Drive Project Office.
GUMA through its various companies employs over 10,000 staff members globally.
The group of companies has some of the top multinational companies as clients or partners and have made investments in Information Communication Technology (ICT), Railways, Energy Generation, Water & Sanitation, Property & Retail Development, Construction, Engineering, Mining, Business Consulting, Private Equity, Human Capital Management & Training, Transport & Products Logistics, Private-Public Partnerships, Project Structured Finance and Tourism.
A team of highly placed executives and technical directors of the GUMA Group are expected in Ghana towards the end of September to initiate the process leading to the implementation of the signed agreement and to commence action on the immediate priorities.
