Mr. Kwaku Agyeman Manu, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and PSI, on Monday said although Africa had potentials in agri-business and agro-industry, most African countries were still underdeveloped. This, he noted, was because most countries still faced economic development challenges particularly with respect to the capacity of their institutions to effectively deliver services and to put in place programmes that stimulated job creation and pro-poor growth. "These factors do not promote investment and are disincentive to attracting the needed capital into a sector which should be at the core of agri-industry," Mr Manu said at the opening of a three-day workshop on "A Comparative Appraisal of Enabling Environments for Agribusiness and Agro-industry" taking place in Accra. The workshop organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation attracted participants from Ghana, The Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda, Cameroon, Liberia and FAO and UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) headquarters. It is to identify, characterize and assess the set of policies, institutions and support services that contribute to an enabling environment with the view to identifying lessons and best practices that lead to agri-business and agro-industry development in Africa. Inputs from the workshop would be added to a global synthesis document that will be prepared and presented at a "Global Forum on Competitive Agro-Industries" to be held in New Delhi, India in April 2008. Mr Manu said agri-business and agro-industry held the key to economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, adding that the agriculture sector on which agri-industry was based contributed significantly to GDP and employment in most African countries. Citing Ghana as an example, Mr Manu said agriculture contributed about 40 per cent of GDP and employed about 60 per cent of the population. "Agri-industry can thus contribute tremendously to the accelerated development of the economies of most African countries," he said. Touching on the challenges confronting the sector, Mr Manu noted that they included difficult access to land for farming, over reliance on rain fed agriculture with its uncertainties and traditional mode of agriculture, which is characterized by low productivity. He said with a vision such as Ghana's of achieving a middle-income status by 2015 and becoming a leading agro-industrial country in Africa, it was important that international trade was increased. "In view of the country's relatively small market, economic growth must necessarily come through increased international trade," he said. Mr Ahoma Lindsay, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC), in a speech read for him said the GIPC would continue to be a strong supporter and promoter of projects that add value to the nation’s materials, especially agricultural produce. "This is because we believe that it is in the agricultural sector that Ghana's quest for poverty alleviation through long-term and sustainable economic growth and development will have to be won." He expressed the hope that the action plan which would come out of the deliberations would serve as a springboard for African countries to face the challenges of turning from a source of agricultural raw materials to a centre of high quality agricultural produce and products to the world. Mr Edouard K. Tapsoba, FAO Regional Officer-in-Charge, expressed worry about how Africa continued to trail most developing regions in starting a business, registering property, trading across borders and accessing credit. He said providing an enabling environment for enterprises to start and thrive was an essential pre-requisite for economic development. "Perhaps in Africa more than anywhere else, diverse country experiences demonstrate that putting proper policies, legal systems, institutions and support services in place is key to promoting investments and attracting capital in a sustainable way, and thus creating economic growth," he said. Source: GNA