By Caleb Kuleke, GNA
Ho, June 15, GNA – Mrs Kathleen Quartey Ayensu, council member, National African Peer Review Mechanism- Governing Council (NAPRM-GC), said the Council will collaborate with the AfCFTA National Coordinating Office in empowering Ghana businesses to leverage the enormous prospects offered by the continental market.
She said though the National Coordinating Office of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was located in Accra, the country had to nurture it domestically so that people would be aware of it and take advantage of it to grow their businesses.
Mrs Ayensu was speaking at a knowledge empowerment workshop for District Oversight Committees (DOCs) of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in Ho, in the Volta Region on the Targeted Review of Ghana and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
In 2023, NAPRM- GC in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration together with the continental APRM secretariat facilitated the Country Review Mission for the conduct of the Targeted Review of Ghana on the theme, “Corporate Governance as a Catalyst for the Implementation of AfCFTA in Ghana.”
This targeted review was a focused governance assessment which examined key corporate governance and intra-African trade challenges that must be addressed to facilitate the implementation of the AfCFTA in the country.
The review offers the opportunity to strengthen good governance practices for Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the most dominant private sector in Ghana to also access the enormous AfCFTA markets.
This is important because, the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) indicates that the MSMEs sector which is the backbone of the Ghanaian economy is made up of 1.7 million of the estimated 2.1 million businesses in Ghana and employs 2.5 million people with a cumulative contribution of 75 per cent of national GDP.
Therefore, their ability to harness the AfCFTA opportunities will result in increased foreign exchange earnings and national income as well as the creation of vast employment opportunities in Ghana.
Mrs Ayensu said the workshop formed part of NAPRM-GC’s agenda to empower the DOCs with knowledge on the Targeted Review of Ghana on the AfCFTA and corporate governance and their role in facilitating intra-African trade under the AfCFTA initiative.
It aimed to revitalise the DOCs at the districts to enable them to play their role in the dissemination of the targeted review outcomes and in the promotion of citizens ownership and participation in the monitoring and evaluation of the programme of action of the Targeted Review of Ghana report.
Mrs Ayensu, said at the heart of APRM’s success lay the principle of local ownership and participation and the DOCs exemplified this ethos, serving as grassroots advocates for good governance and community development.
The Chairman emphasised the importance of the workshop in enhancing the awareness of the DOCs on the significant role of the APRM in facilitating the implementation of the AfCFTA through the recent targeted review of Ghana.
GNA