Emelia Arthur
Gospel musician, Emelia Arthur, who is also Made-in-Ghana Ambassador, has argued that our quest to develop as a nation could be accelerated if we diligently pursue our creative abilities and adequately patronise the results of our own efforts.
The gospel musician credited with a number of inspirational songs pointed out that, March is always an appropriate time to remind ourselves of our unique capabilities because we pushed for political independence in that month in 1957.
In her view, one of the best ways to mark that momentous period in our nation’s history is by supporting local producers of all kinds of goods and services.
“Patriotism also means doing everything we can to help improve lives through control of taste for foreign goods and better job creation in our country. March is definitely an appropriate time to express love of country,” said Ms Arthur at an interaction with the media in Accra.
Made an official Made-in-Ghana Ambassador by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in January 2016, the gospel musician has since been an active campaigner in support of the manufacture and patronage of local goods to help create more jobs, improve physical infrastructure and growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
She pointed out that there are many self-employed folks exercising their creativity through work from home with supplies that are easily attainable.
She appealed for patronage for people involved in such activities which include beaded jewelry, dressmaking; T-shirt design, Graphic design, basket weaving and wood carving as well as handbag making, hat, and hair accessories.
Apart from being a gospel singer, she also hosts the Ghanaian Kitchen on Homebase TV where she emphasises healthy cooking with Ghanaian produce. She has campaigned in churches, mosques and market places for better patronage of local enterprises and services.
“Radio, television, print and online outlets have daily spots for sports, entertainment, politics, international news, education, health and other sectors. My plea with each of them is to include a daily spot for Made-in-Ghana products or services,” Ms, Arthur stated.
She urged banks to make capital more accessible to local producers and also asked state outfits to lean more toward local content in their procurement processes.
The Made-in-Ghana Ambassador appealed to local producers to always be mindful of the quality of what they put out since a single dissatisfied consumer could translate into the loss of many more.
A happy consumer, however, could also tell other potential customers and increase business for the producer. She reminded Ghanaian producers never to forget the Akan expression: “adepa na eton ne ho” (a good quality product sells itself).
“We have adequate substitutes for many of the things we import. So let’s patronise local goods for the countless benefits we stand to gain from doing so,” Ms. Arthur added.
By George Clifford Owusu