Ghana Exports Promotion Authority
The Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA) is to establish Ghana Shops in countries with high concentration of Ghanaians to boost the patronage of made-in-Ghana goods.
Under the programme, warehouses would be constructed in Ghana and some cities in the identified countries for the regular supply and distribution of identified products from Ghana.
Deputy Chief Executive of GEPA, Samuel Dentu, disclosed this while answering a question on what the authority has been doing to improve the capacity of exporters.
Ghana has adopted “Ghana- Your Preferred Investment Destination in Africa” as its focus of participation in the CIIE, which is themed, “New Era, Shared Future.”
He said the Ghana Shops concept would enable GEPA to help individual exporters to meet orders to build trust and confidence in importers and benefit the country.
Mr Dentu said China has the potential market and Ghana has to fight for space and gain root.
He pointed out that processed cocoa products, alcoholic beverages, shea butter products and cashew seemed to have won the hearts of the Chinese.
He said he was impressed with the number of visitors to both the Ghana Country Pavillion and stand of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and explained that a number of deals were discussed for distributorships in some Chinese cities.
Mr Dentu said most of the big players in the export business did not participate in the maiden exposition because they appeared not to have appreciated its potential.
He said the GEPA would organise education and training programmes to get exporters interested in participating in the exposition next year and encourage them to secure partners and distributors to give meaning to their investments.
He also said in subsequent fairs they would develop an effective and efficient communication and marketing strategies to win the trust of the Chinese, who did not have adequate information.
One of the exhibitors, Francisca Brenda Opoku, Chief Executive Officer of Oasis Solutions, which produces natural beauty soaps and creams, said although her products were not well known, they were patronized, as she got offers from a number of Chinese traders.
She said her company has huge installed capacity to produce ‘Alata Samina,’ cocoa butter and shea butter creams among others, and appealed to the Ministry of Trade and Industry and GEPA to educate Ghanaian exporter on the requirements of Chinese exports, especially regulations for entry, tax incentives, health and safety standards and all that exporters must know about the Chinese market to boost trade.
“Investing in manufacturing is not as easy as trading since it takes time to get returns. It requires hard work and patience and entrepreneurs must not abandon manufacturing and rush into trading.
Mrs Opoku said sustainable development could only come from investment in production of goods and challenged the government to provide incentives to manufacturers to entice entrepreneurs to move from trading and go into production to make the country independent and more developed.
She also called for education on packaging to meet the needs of players in the Chinese market, adding that items to be sold in China must be labeled in both English and Chinese to enable Chinese consumers read and properly know the products.
From Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh, Shanghai