THE Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has adopted a strategy to promote and find markets for targeted sectors of the country’s non-traditional export commodities.
The authority has, therefore, indicated that it would henceforth not lump all commodities from different industries for promotions and marketing. Instead, it will identify specific commodities each year for promotion and marketing.
This means that the authority will now identify specific markets or countries that demand for any commodity in the non-traditional sector before export.
Consequently, the authority has therefore prepared some guidelines for Ghanaian exporters in conducting sales in targeted markets.
The Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, Dr Kwadwo Owusu Agyeman said all these interventions were geared towards improving efficiency.
Speaking to the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on the sidelines of a national exporters forum in Accra, Dr Agyemang said the authority is providing technical assistance and facilitating market linkages to help individual firms to maximise market opportunities.
He said the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) was giving three times the amount previously given to exporters to process their goods.
“The money EDAIF gives us is now being used for better programmes. It is not an indictment on previous management but just new ways to improve efficiency. Not only are we making more revenue by our activities but the name of Ghana is being held high outside the country”, he said.
He said GEPA was ready to work towards the achievement of US$5 billion target in non- traditional exports (NTEs) revenue by 2016.
The 2011 NTE statistics revealed that exports of non-traditional products amounted to US$2.423 billion against a target of US$1.8 billion, representing an increase of 48.74 per cent over the 2010 earnings of US$1.629 billion.
Dr Agyeman attributed the success to the hard work and ingenuity of exporters.
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Joseph S. Annan said the impressive growth in NTEs was significant, saying “it is an indication that we are on course to achieve our target and even exceed it.”
Most of the traders at the forum said they still encountered problems sending goods to West African countries despite the presence of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).
In view of the challenges exporters face in accessing the ECOWAS market, the World Bank has approved US$90 million grant to finance the Abidjan-Lagos Trade Facilitation Project to reduce trade and transportation barriers within the ECOWAS sub-region.
The national exporters’ forum is aimed at finding on the spot solutions to challenges exporters face in business and to create platform to educate them on new programmes by GEPA and partners involved in export trade.
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