Dr. Afua Asabea Asare – GEPA CEO
More than half of the export companies that operate within the Non-Traditional Export (NTE) sector of the country are known to annually contribute not more than 30% of Ghana’s export revenue, the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) has revealed.
About 70% of NTE revenue are mostly contributed by fewer companies with higher capacity to export in large volumes, while remaining companies which are relatively smaller and inadequately funded engage in sporadic exports or relatively remain dormant for many years.
Data from the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has for instance indicated that 151 companies representing nine per cent of 1,618 functional exporting companies in 2017 generated US$1.84 billion representing 72% of the 2017 NTE revenue of US$2.56 billion.
The NEDS document, which was launched in October this year, had outlined series of interventions to help bridge the gap between smaller and larger export companies as government sought to increase its NTE revenue from a projected $2.8 billion in 2020 to $25.3 billion in 2029.
The ‘20-100-200 strategy’ is among the interventions which has been designed to provide direct export services on an annual basis to companies with high export performance potential for any of the 17 prioritized products under the NEDS.
The NEDS document indicates that export development officers will be tasked to ensure selected exporters achieve their target under the 20-100-200 strategy intervention.
Top 20 export performers under the strategy would be provided with incentives that included recommended access to portfolio of reliefs and services that would reduce cost of operations.
A second tier of high performers would also consist of 100 companies that would be entitled to similar supports of the highest performers in addition to customized services that included direct investment and export promotion services from public agencies such as the GEPA, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).
Such companies are also guaranteed full use of economic diplomacy services provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to help secure access and penetration into greater market.
Additional financial packages will be tailored for the expansion of production base and further advancement, downstream the value chain.
Meanwhile, 200 companies who fall within the third tier of high export performers will comprise of district level companies that will be provided with all incentives accessible by companies in top and middle tier with the aim of reaching production and market coverage level within the next decade.
The 20-100-200 strategy will however operate in tandem with Small Medium Enterprises (SME) development programme and the strategy of promoting indirect exporting via Export Houses especially among micro and small exporters.
By Issah Mohammed