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Exporters advocate dedicated shipping line

Exporters advocate dedicated shipping line

Exporters of highly perishable goods, have appealed to government to assist them with a dedicated shipping line to export their products to foreign markets.

Most of them complained that currently, their goods take longer than necessary to get to destination countries and in the process lead to huge losses.

A yam exporter, Madam Florence Obenewa Adu, of Flobico Limited, at the 76th national exporters’ forum in Accra complained that hitherto it took a maximum of between 18 to 20 days to export yam to Europe and America without hitches. However, it now tales between 35 to 40 days.

“Since the introduction of regulations such as sea and air freight, exporting highly perishable goods like yam has become extremely difficult. Now anyone can hardly do big exports because its takes between 35 to 40 days for goods to arrive at destination country. Therefore, if you took a loan you will certainly default,” she said.

Consequently, she said that the risky nature of their trade made it extremely difficult to secure either a bank loan or insurance cover for their trade.

“Airfreighting is expensive coupled with handling charges. Traders in the Caribbean transport their products by train and so they are able to sell at affordable prices. We are pleading with the government to help solve these challenges so we can continue to stay in business,” she said.

Exporters make case

Most exporters complained about hurdles they encountered at various borders as they exported to regional markets despite the ECOWAS protocols.

Others also expressed their dissatisfaction with the Enterprise Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) for entrusting its credit facility to banks to disburse to them and other interested institutions.

They said such an arrangement caused delays and increased the cost of the facility to their beneficiaries.

Reacting to their concerns, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Mr Gideon Quarcoo, said the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank would be a vehicle for the consolidation of the current export finance activities of EDAIF, Eximguaranty Company and Export Finance Company and ensure access to long term funding.

Government announced plans to establish a Ghana Export-Import Bank in its 2015 Budget and Financial Estimates towards the strategic positioning of Ghana as an export-led economy.

He said the EXIM bank would also enable the country to take advantage of global initiatives such as America’s new African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) to boost its exports.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Hanna Tetteh, advised the exporters to be committed to improve the quality of their products and always liaise with Ghana’s missions abroad to assist them if they encounter problems during their trading activities

“We can’t have Ghana standards and expect to be competitive. Exports mindset says that you should pay attention to quality management. We need to harmonise our standards to meet international ones or else our exports will shrink,” she said. GB

 

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