New export strategy provides opportunities
The country's new export strategy provides good opportunity for investors yearning to invest in a stable socio-economic environment in the sub-region, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Mr Gideon Quarcoo, has said.
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He has, thus, called on investor communities in the sub-region, especially those in neighbouring Nigeria, to make the necessary enquiries and contacts which will enable them to reap from the strategy or risk losing out on a rather juicy business opportunity.
Mr Quarcoo made the call at the 'Ghana Day', a special event organised by the authority as part of events marking the country's participation in the Lagos Fair in Nigeria.
About 52 companies from the handicraft, textiles and garments, food and beverage and health sectors, among others, are in the Nigerian capital to participate in the 10-day fair.
The fair, which runs from November 1 to 10, has attracted companies from all over the continent, including others from China, other Asian countries and Europe.
Given that Ghana's export strategy tasks each of the 170 municipal, metropolitan and district assemblies (MMDAs) to come up with and develop at least one product that can be exported, Mr Quarcoo said businesses in the sub-region could easily partner the respective districts in developing the relevant products that could be exported for the benefit of those districts and investors.
"The export strategy, which we launched in August this year, provides a good opportunity for businesses in West Africa, and I will like to urge our brothers and sisters from Nigeria and the entire subregion to take advantage of it. You can do that by contacting the Ghana Investment Promotion Council or us at GEPA to help you set up," Mr Quarcoo said.
The GEPA CEO, however, lamented the low trade volumes between Ghana and Nigeria, which was currently around US$120 million, and called for measures that would help raise it for the benefit of the two nations.
On the low level trade between Ghana and Nigeria, the Deputy President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alhaji Remi Beloo, blamed it on the stringent requirements that businesses in the two countries had to satisfy before they were allowed to set up.
"We need to make sure that there is seamless movement between the two countries. We should also have trust in each other, and if we do this, then we can increase trade," he said.
The CEO of the Export Development and Agricultural Fund (EDAIF), Mr Suleimana Ibrahim, pledged the fund's readiness to support potential investors in the country's agro-processing, agriculture and related areas, and further called on them to liaise with it for financial support to enable them to establish their businesses.
Daily Graphic/Ghana
