UK Trade and Investment estimated that an investment of $2.25bn is required to upgrade two Ghanaian ports, Tema and Takoradi.

UKTI said that the investment is needed to create more space for ships doing business at the harbours. The Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority, which runs the ports, is aiming to further develop its capacity with the country’s economic expansion aims in mind.

The Tema port, the largest in Ghana, conducted 75 per cent of the country’s shipping business last year, with a 12 per cent rise in activity stretching the congested port’s facilities.

The GPHA is looking to expand the second port, Takoradi, by 300 per cent in a plan that includes reclaiming land from the sea. The port is under “considerable strain” said UKTI, having taken on the responsibility of the country’s main oil transport resource since offshore drilling began in 2007.

Expansion plans are significant and include a new container terminal, fruit and sugar terminal, passenger terminal and transshipment terminal. British investment firm Lonrho Plc has announced plans to invest $1bn in an oil terminal in the west of the country. It is currently conducting a feasibility study into the project.

Oxitec secures £8m funding
Biotech company Oxitec has announced that it has secured £8m in new funding for its work combating dengue fever.

The investors are primarily based in countries and regions affected by the disease, with investment coming from the US, Argentina, Brazil and South East Asia. Asset management company Asia Pacific Capital also contributed. The drive for funding was led by Oxford Capital.

The investment raised will fund research in the company’s control programme, which aims to reduce the number of mosquitoes that carry the disease in badly affected areas. Cases of the dengue fever have increased 30 fold since the mid-20th century. A frightening and unexpected statistic that means that action must be taken.

“This new investment round marks an important step forward for Oxitec,” said CEO, Hadyn Parry. “We have reached agreements to roll out our technology in many of the countries facing growing problems with insect-borne diseases, with a particular focus on dengue fever. The success of our funding round underlines the confidence investors from around the world have in our approach.”

Asia Pacific Capital said it was excited about working with the company. “Oxitec’s proven technology could make a real difference and we were keen to back the business – both for its potential for capital growth and the positive impact its technology could have on the wider regional economy,” said the company’s managing director, W Gage McAfee.

Green promotes Britain’s Far East interests
The Minister for Trade and Investment Lord Green toured the Far East in January in an effort to promote Britain’s export interests in the region.

The three countries the Minister visited, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, have been earmarked as important high-growth areas by the Government.

“If we want to turn around the trade performance of this country we need to see countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as the markets of the future,” said the Minister. “British companies can survive and thrive in the Far East by meeting the demand that exists for high-quality goods and highly-skilled services.”

Lord Green said that he encourages British firms to export to the region and that the Government is doing its best to support domestic companies in the Far East. While on tour he also met workers from British firms attempting to find business developing the economies’ rapidly expanding infrastructure.

He pointed to the Singapore Air Show, which he attended, as an example of the region’s recent boom, and of the thriving engineering and aviation industries located in the Far East. Lord Green said that the UK “must be a part” of the region’s boom. Aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus both signed multibillion-pound order contracts at the air show.