Indigenous exporter of processed cocoa products, Niche Cocoa Industry Limited, was adjudged the Exporter of the Year at the 24th National Awards for Export Achievement held at the weekend.
The company, which was established in May 2011, earned over US$100 million from the export of cocoa derivatives such as liquor, butter and cake to its clients in Europe and Asia last year.
About 100 per cent of the total earnings were repatriated and that helped to improve national earnings from non-traditional exports (NTEs) in 2013 close of US$2.44 billion.
This made Niche Cocoa, which operates under the free zones enclave in Tema, the company with the most enviable export earnings and repatriation record for 2013.
Its General Manager, Mr Lloyd Ashiley, said that Niche Cocoa was excited about the honour, given that it had been in existence for four years.
Woman exporter of the year
Mrs Margaret Tweneboa-Boateng, the Chief Executive Officer of Excel Industries Limited, was also adjudged the Woman Exporter of the Year for her outstanding performance in the export of aluminium and household utensils within the period under review.
Awards given national recognition
The National Awards for Export Achievement is an annual initiative by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), the non-traditional export (NTE) promotion arm of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), aimed at celebrating and recognising companies and individuals who have excelled in the export business.
It was instituted in 1989 and had since helped to improve the country's export earnings to the present figure.
At this year's event, which was the 24th edition, 43 awards were given to distinguished individuals and institutions, including the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and the Chinese Embassy in the country, for their various acts of support and contribution to the export business over the past year.
The event was on the theme, 'Celebrating Export Excellence' and was graced by the new Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Ekow Spio-Gabrah, who represented President John Dramani Mahama.
President’s National Awards for Export Excellence
Dr Spio-Gabrah thanked the award winners and export-oriented businesses in general on behalf of the President and urged them to strive for greater laurels in the coming days.
He emphasised the government's commitment to helping to diversify the country's exports, saying that obligation informed the decision to launch the national export strategy (NES) aimed at raising earnings from the sector to US$5 billion by 2017.
In line with that, the minister said the President had accepted a request by the Chief Executive Officer of the GEPA, Mr Gideon Quarcoo, to elevate the awards to the levels of other national awards such as the National Farmers and Teachers awards.
"Consequently, the awards shall be called the President's National Awards for Export Excellence and will be held in every first week of October," Dr Spio-Gabrah said.
Mr Quarcoo also assured the country of the authority's resolve to implement strategies that would help boost export earnings.
He also commended President Mahama for his 'Proudly Ghanaian drive,' which he said was "unleashing a groundswell of motivation for the production and consumption of made-in-Ghana products."