Ms. Afua Asabea Asare, the new Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) – lead agency for the development and promotion of the country’s exports – has commenced visits to major stakeholders in the export sector.
This is to introduce the new management team to stakeholders, whilst gathering information on the activities and operations of exporters.
It also is to create the right atmosphere for sector players and GEPA to collaborate in tackling challenges besetting the sector effectively.
Asare and her team visited Niche Cocoa Industry Limited, a wholly owned Ghanaian company and Cocoa Touton Processing Company, an international company, which both produce semi processed cocoa products, including cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa cake for export and chocolate for the local market.
Other companies visited were B5 Plus Company Limited, a manufacturer and exporter of steel and Kingdom Exim Ghana Limited, which is part of a group in West Africa, headquartered in Ghana exporting cashew nut, shea nut, soya beans, maize and other agro products.
Among issues discussed was the high cost of energy, availability of raw material at competitive prices to ensure sustained production and the need to secure markets for value-added finished products, as well as, the need to review the law on ‘Letter of Commitment’ (LOC) which obligates Free Zone companies to repatriate their foreign exchange earnings.
All the companies visited expressed appreciation to GEPA for the visit while expressing the hope that challenges hobbling the export business will be curtailed, with the support of the Authority.
GEPA’s CEO also commended the companies for their hard work in ensuring sustained exports for the development of the country and affirmed her support in collaborating to resolve the issues raised.
Asare added that the visits will be conducted more regularly to forge closer relationships for effective stakeholder coordination.
