By Francis Ntow, GNA
Accra, May 3, GNA – Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), has announced plans to launch targeted multimedia campaigns in support of the implementation on China’s zero-tariff trade policy with Ghana and other African countries.
This includes publishing articles, producing infographics, creating videos, and releasing podcasts, all specifically designed to break down what the zero-tariff policy means in practical terms for Ghanaian businesses, exporters, and citizens.
Since December 2024, China has implemented a duty-free policy for 33 least-developed African nations. The new policy, which took effect from May 1, 2026, covers 53 countries, and would be in place until 30th April 2028.
China remains Africa’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching approximately US$348 billion in 2025. The new policy expected to create space to rebalance Africa’s raw material export trade, enhancing the commercial viability of goods in the Chinese market.
The policy would make exports cheaper while boosting competitiveness, incentivise value-added processing over raw material exports, and raise profit margins for manufacturers, as part of efforts to deepening China and Africa’s economic ties.
In an interview with China’s Global Television Network (CGTN) on Thursday, Mr Owusu described the policy as a transformative development for Ghana’s trade growth, industrialisation, and economic diversification.
“We will launch targeted multimedia campaigns, publishing articles, infographics, videos, and podcasts to explain opportunities like enhanced market access for agro-processed foods and compliance with Chinese standards,” he said.
These campaigns would help to demystify the practical workings of the policy, directly addressing challenges such as quality control requirements and regulatory compliance, and amplify success stories of Ghanaian businesses under the policy.
Mr Owusu said beyond digital content, GNA would plan to host workshops and conduct interviews with public officials to ensure that the policy’s benefits were translated into actionable intelligence for exporters and entrepreneurs to make informed business decisions.
The agency would also forge partnerships with local media outlets across Ghana, to ensure that awareness of the zero-tariff opportunity penetrated regional and community-level audiences who might be bypassed by national-level economic communications, he noted.
The General Manager of GNA identified cocoa derivatives, shea products, cashew, timber, and light manufactures as priority areas for Ghana to shift from exporting raw commodities to supplying value-added, processed goods for higher prices, while creating more jobs domestically.
“I see this as a catalyst for trade growth, industrialisation, job creation, and economic diversification,” he said, adding that the policy would accelerate Ghana’s integration into global supply chains.
On the question of how African media should collectively handle the narrative around the 53-nation zero-tariff arrangement, Mr Owusu urged African media organisations to invest in data-driven reporting and build collaborative platforms.
He particularly encouraged joint China-Africa news exchanges to highlight mutual benefits and counter imbalanced global narratives with verifiable facts on growing exports and increasing Chinese investments across the continent.
Mr Owusu also pointed to Chinese investments in Ghana’s power sector, aviation, and manufacturing as examples of tangible partnership outcomes that African media should be amplifying.
He explained that by tapping into synergies created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and fostering South-South narratives, African media could ensure that global audiences understood the China-Africa relationship as a partnership of equals oriented towards sustainable development.
On the part of the Agency, being Sub-Saharan Africa’s first news agency, he pledged its continuity to prioritise credible, timely and unbiased dissemination of news and information to mobilise citizens for development.
The China policy giving Africa’s biggest economies tariff-free access to its market for the next two years came into effect Friday, May 1.
The deal covers Africa’s 20 largest economies, including South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Kenya.
China had already dropped tariffs on 33 least-developed African countries, meaning 53 of the continent’s 54 nations are now eligible for “tariff-free treatment” for their goods.
The country not eligible is Eswatini because its formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The policy serves China’s strategy to diversify supply chains, secure diplomatic goodwill across 1.4 billion Africans, and encourage African industrialisation by creating incentives to move up the value chain.
Goods covered include agricultural products like coffee from Ethiopia and Kenya, avocados, nuts, tea, cocoa from Ivory Coast and Ghana, South African apples and wine, Senegalese tuna, and raw materials such as iron ore, manganese, rare earths, cobalt and crude oil.
Watch video here
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe