Processed products highest contributor to NTEs
Processed and semi processed products emerged as the highest contributor to non-traditional export earnings (NTEs) in 2021.
The sector’s contribution to total earnings amounted to $2.8 billion, a report by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) revealed.
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It represents an increase of 17.88 per cent compared to the 2020 figure of $2,382.98 billion.
The amount is 84.35 per cent of the total value of export earnings for the year in review, which stood at $3.3 billion.
The GEPA report, dubbed ‘Analysis of Non-Traditional Export Statistics,’ said the significant growth in demand for processed and semi-processed products was triggered by a resumption of industrial activities in key markets as Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in a number of destinations.
Product performance
The report, launched by the GEPA a couple of months ago, listed the top 10 leading NTE products as cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cashew nuts, articles of plastics, canned tuna and natural rubber sheets.
The rest are refined palm olein, iron/steel circles, rods, sheets and billets, cocoa powder and aluminium plates.
It noted that cocoa paste maintained its lead over cocoa butter as the highest earner, with aluminium plates, sheets and coils as the lowest earners.
The first and 10th earned $495.89 million and $90.98 million, respectively, while average revenue from the top 10 earners stood at $209.686 million.
Total value of the top 10 leading products amounted to a little over $2 million, representing 62.96 per cent of total NTE earnings in the period under review.
Cocoa paste, which is the biggest earner, contributed 14.89 per cent of the total NTEs while aluminium plates, sheets and coils contributed 2.73 per cent.
The NTE sector is categorised into three main sub-sectors: Agriculture, Processed/Semi-Processed, and Industrial Art & Craft sub-sectors (Handicrafts).
Unlimited growth
According to GEPA, the processed and semi-processed sub-sector had unlimited potential for growth and was a major driving force for economic growth.
“This is why government’s transformation agenda for economic growth is expected to materialise through accelerated industrialisation and value addition to achieve increased export earnings. In aggregate terms, the processed cocoa sector experienced a growth of 24.9 per cent in 2021 relative to 2020,” the report stated.