GEPA confident of meeting US$10bn NTEs target

The Ghana Export Authority (GEPA) is confident of meeting its target of taking the volumes of non-traditional export (NTE) to US$10 billion by 2021.

Per the four-year plan, NTEs, which include agriculture products, handicraft and processed and semi-processed products, are expected to rake in US$4 billion by the end of 2017, up from the US$2.46 billion recorded in 2016.

This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, Mrs Gifty Klenam, in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in Accra.

She said the achievement of the target called for an aggressive implementation of the various projects in the National Export Strategy.

“There must also be an execution of activities and programmes lined up in collaboration with other key export stakeholders to ensure that the targets are met,” she stated.

She said with the provision of adequate funding and support, the GEPA would drive the anticipated increases in NTE revenue in 2017 and beyond.

“We, as an authority, are looking to raise US$10 billion in the shortest possible time. It is doable if we get the fundamentals right,” she said.

“We have neglected the non-traditional export products for almost about 15 years; no attention has been given to it but we are going to reverse the trend,” she added.

Earlier target

In 2013, a US$5 billion, five-year target was set for the sector, but earnings dipped in 2016 by 2.3 per cent from the US$2.55 billion realised in 2015.

Mrs Klenam said the authority was going back to the basics to address the backward integration and make sure that the right measures were implemented.

“This time, the exporters will be in control of the products they want to market and will be part of the production as well. They will not sit in their offices with the hope that someone will produce for them,” she stated.

She noted that her current focus was to complete the restructuring of the internal operations of GEPA to provide the necessary resources for staff to enhance their capability to facilitate export trade.

She further disclosed that the GEPA had also come up with a new plan to help promote its work, taking a cue from the government’s flagship “One District, One factory” policy.

“We’ve also come up with ‘one district, one export,’ which has to do with one identifiable export product in each of our over 200 districts to create awareness of the need to promote the authority and its work while generating more revenue for the state,” she said.

2017 Exporters’ Forum

As part of moves to rejuvenate export sector and move the economy from being import dependent to an export-led one, GEPA is organising the 77th National Exporters’ Forum on October 4, 2017.

She said the platform had been created over the years to bring exporters, export facilitation institutions and the entire exporter community together to dialogue on pertinent issues affecting the sector.

The Exporters Forum will also provide an opportunity for finding ‘on-the-spot’ solutions to challenges exporters face in their business, while providing an avenue to inform and educate them on new programmes and policies relating to the export trade.

“It has become a flagship programme for the exporter community in Ghana because it provides one of the best opportunities for varied groups of people in the sector to congregate, share ideas and discuss ways of promoting exports in Ghana,” she said. — GB