![Ras Mubarak, Founder and Leader of the Pan African Initiative Promoting a Visa-Free Africa by 2030 [middle] in African print.](https://www.citinewsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CANADA.jpeg)
Ras Mubarak, Founder and Leader of the Pan African Initiative Promoting a Visa-Free Africa by 2030, has highlighted the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme at the Ghana-Canada Investment Forum, held on June 15, 2026, at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel’s Frontenac Ballroom in Toronto, Ontario.
The 24-hour national strategy is designed to extend productive hours across manufacturing, agro-processing, logistics, energy, tourism and other priority sectors.
Ras Mubarak represented the Chief of Staff, Dr. Julius Debrah, at the forum. The forum was organised by the GHFA Global Investment Forum Initiative in collaboration with Strategic Communications Africa Limited (Stratcomm Africa), Ghana’s premier total communications agency and Kwakaf International, an international investment promotion and events company headquartered in Toronto.
“Ghana is open for business like never before,” he declared, inviting Canadian capital, expertise and technology to help power the initiative and noting that Ghana offers investors a gateway to the African Continental Free Trade Area’s market of over 1.5 billion people.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stratcomm Africa, Esther A. N. Cobbah, in her address, highlighted decades of Ghana-Canada cooperation, recalling, for instance, historic technical support from Petro-Canada International Assistance Corporation to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
She said, “Ghana is a stepping stone towards a wider engagement with the African continent,” urging participants to see the country as an entry point into Africa’s broader market, workforce and natural resources.
She noted that Canada, without the colonial baggage on the continent, has a unique opportunity to build lasting partnerships across Anglophone and Francophone Africa.
The Forum brought together about 135 participants, including government officials, diplomats and business executives from Ghana and Canada to advance trade, investment and partnership between the two countries.
Discussions emphasised that beyond financing, sustainable growth in Ghana depends on disciplined financial management, credible partnerships and meaningful AI literacy among Ghana’s youth as the country implements the education and workforce pillars of its National AI Strategy.
Participants hailed the Forum as a milestone in deepening Ghana-Canada economic ties and organisers said follow-up engagements with Canadian investors and the Ghanaian diaspora in Canada are due to take place in the coming months.
Following the conference, organisers hosted the Canada Royal Gala in honour of His Royal Majesty King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II.
The event served as a fundraising platform in support of the Ga Mantse Foundation, reinforcing a shared commitment to cultural preservation, philanthropy and strengthening ties between Ghana and the Ghanaian diaspora in Canada.
