The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah has stated that Takoradi was the bedrock of Ghana’s economy and was strategically placed and opened for productivity.
He mentioned that Ghana has been alive and conscious to the quest for emergence of Africa’s economic force into the global scene but information available showed that intra-African trade was low and spans at only 16% as compared to 51 percent in Asia and 54 percent in Europe.
Mr Darko-Mensah said, with the introduction of African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), it was expected that trade among African countries would increase.
He said this at a day’s Regional conference organized by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) on the theme, “Empowering Ghanaian Businesses to Harness the Benefits of The African Continental Free Trade Agreement Under the Framework of the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS)”.
He said ‘The National Export Development Strategy’ (NEDS) was presenting the opportunity for a substantial increase in manufactured goods and service components of the nations export to attain a projected aggregate of revenue target of 25 billion USD by 2030.
He deemed the theme as most appropriate and timely and stressed the need for Ghanaians to change their ways of doing business, by giving room to private companies to operate.
Mr Okyere Darko pointed out that the private sector creates jobs and businesses which propels Industrial transformation.
He said it was gratifying that NEDs was private sector led and that it formed part of the government’s transformation agenda towards the revitalization and strengthening of the economy from a raw material commodity export based to an industrial export led one.
He explained that “Ghana Beyond Aid” was a call to Ghanaians to create wealth from their own resources and take the right initiative in providing an enabling environment to boost economic growth.
“I have always had a firm belief that the private sector is key in the achievement of the national transformational agenda and Ghana should take advantage of AfCFTA when it becomes fully operational in January, 2021”, he opined.
He said, the Western Regional Coordinating Council (WRCC) is pursuing a private sector facilitation and investment drive as a major component of our enterprise Western Regional programme.
“Propelled by our vast natural resource endowment, Western Region has decided to own the productive assets so that the benefits that are accrued from local businesses could be retained in the region. With this resolve, Western Region is strategically placed to the realization of AFCFTA and open for beneficial partnership for growth and productivity”, he added.
Mr Darko-Mensah stressed that AfCFTA would be successful due to Ghana’s political stability and hospitable nature and therefore no one should doubt its success, urging all Ghanaians to fully participate in AfCFTA.
Story: Seth Ameyaw Danquah
