Accra named one of worlds best destinations for business

Accra, the capital city of Ghana, has been named by ‘The New York Times’ among the world’s best destinations for business as well as pleasure for 2013. Accra was placed fourth on the list of 46 destinations around the world recommended to the readers to visit.

The newspaper described that city as the buzzing metropolis which was fully ready to cater to people for business and leisure purposes. The newspaper said that Accra has been welcoming business travelers for the past many years and even tourists have started flocking to the city now. According to the newspaper, Ghana has transformed itself as the fastest growing economy in Africa and is also considered to be one of the safest destinations.

Apart from ‘The New York Times’, Accra also received accolades from others as well. Yet another study conducted recently indicated that Accra has become a prime destination for foreign investors in recent years. It is now identified as one of the top cities in Africa for economic growth.
 
A study conducted by the ‘MasterCard African Cities Growth Index’ said that Accra is now having the potential for highest economic growth in Africa, which is going to continue until 2017 if present trends are any indication. The index was released in 2013. The index took several factors into account to rank the cities, which included economic performance, governance, development, infrastructure, connectivity, business travel to the area, and urbanization.

The study pointed out that the high ranking achieved by Accra is only because of several reasons such as the GDP per capital growth it has achieved over past 3 years, its accessibility and ease of doing business when compared to different cities in Africa, a strong regulatory environment, and its projected consumption growth.

The study revealed that Accra holds great promise and high potential for business growth. Accra seems to be way ahead of Jakarta and Chennai and appears on same pace with Chongqing in China in terms of its inclusive growth potential.

Even big hotel brands have now acknowledged Accra as a growing destination for business. The renowned Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns properties like Park Inn and Radisson Blu, also considers Accra as among the top 28 cities in Africa where potential for hotel expansion is particularly quite strong.

Famous property group ‘Broll’ is also not lagging behind in acknowledging Accra as a booming city in Africa. The group said that with foreign investments flowing in the city in a big way, the demand for office space has grown immensely.  The property group in its study said that the office space demand has substantially increased across the city within the past decade. This is because of the influx of foreign investors as well as expansion of white-collar workforce.

The World Bank says that Ghana is doing wonders in the business sector. The economy has significantly grown and Ghana has over the past decade made great strides. The World Bank’s Doing Business rankings placed Ghana 64th from out of 185 countries in 2013. The city was placed 102nd in 2005, while it leapfrogged to 60th in 2013.