Taking into account the huge market potentials and benefits that comes with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), she urged them to increase their capacity, enhance their competitiveness, and contribute significantly to the development of made-in-Ghana products and services.
Exhibition
Dr Asare said this during the closing of the West African Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) Made-in-ECOWAS Exhibition which commenced on Thursday, June 29, ended on Saturday, July 1, 2023.
The event was organised by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), under its flagship project; the WACOMP, with funding from the European Union.
The event was on the theme: “Enhancing Intra-regional Trade to Empower Local Industries.”
It brought together over 100 small and SMEs drawn from Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Benin and other West African countries converged in Accra to showcase new products and services.
Boosting performance
Dr. Asabea Asare expressed confidence that the initiative would boost the performance of locally-produced processed fruits as well as cosmetics and personal care products under the framework of the AfCFTA.
She said exhibition would, among other things, promote intra-regional trade by increasing awareness of the high-quality goods produced in West African nations and by making it easier to source components and raw materials from the region to support domestic processing and manufacture.
She said that was particularly important because the AfCFTA had presented every SME in Africa with a great opportunity.
However, Dr Asabea Asare said the opportunity would be meaningless if local businesses take things easy and go about business as they did in the past.
Business is not as usual any more we must be deliberate with every decision and step we take, taking into account the huge market potential and benefits,” she said.
Networking
On his part, the Chief Technical Advisor for WACOMP, Dr. Charles Sackey, encouraged SMEs to build networks to increase exports to new markets.
He made reference to instances where some Ghanaian manufacturers managed to secure strategic partnerships with foreign companies while showcasing their products at trade fairs.
The West Africa Competitiveness Programme, which began rolling out in 2019, aims to support selected value chains at the national and regional levels to promote structural transformation and better access to regional and international markets while taking into account social and environmental concerns.
SOURCE: GraphicOnline
