By Francis Ntow
Accra, March 25, GNA – The government plans to leverage the production and trade capacities of two major private sector actors to boost the patronage of made-in-Ghana products and drive economic transformation.
These actors are the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), with whom the sector minister met separately last week in Accra.
Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister of Trade, Industry and Agribusiness, said this initiative is part of the government’s strategy to operationalize the 24-hour economy and create jobs under the reset agenda.
The aim is to transform the economy into one that produces and consumes high-quality local products, while reducing costs for producers and consumers and curbing the importation of key commodities.
“I’m prepared to initiate our joint meetings so that we can talk among ourselves, know the things that we import, and see what we produce. Let’s do the supply of the things that we manufacture here, and Ghana will be better,” she said.
The minister said that there would be a series of meetings with trade and industry leaders to address challenges such as access to finance, industrial development, trade facilitation, and capacity building.
She encouraged AGI and GUTA to collaborate on developing value chains, selling locally, and exporting locally manufactured products, stating, “It is when you can create the demand, and move into production.”
Dr. Humphrey Ayim-Darke, President of AGI, said they were working to make locally manufactured products affordable and requested government assistance, including amendments to the Public Procurement Act to favor Ghanaian products in public procurement and financing from the Ghana Export–Import Bank (GEXIM) for machinery and innovation.
“AGI has the capacity for some products. Restrictions should go to those products to protect them from unfair competition by foreign companies,” said Mr. Seth Twum Akwaboah, CEO of AGI.
Dr. Joseph Obeng, President of GUTA, commended the government for reviewing the Value Added Tax (VAT) system, which he said would improve compliance and domestic revenue mobilization.
However, he stressed that the reforms should make taxes simple, affordable, and uniform, adding, “The VAT is a goldmine if it is well structured; government can have all the money it wants to develop the country.”
Dr. Obeng said most traders are planning to shift from trade barons to captains of industry, especially given the challenges with duties and imports.
“The only way out is to diversify, export, and support the government’s self-sufficiency agenda and import substitution, which we are willing to do, including exporting made-in-Ghana products,” he said.
GNA