2nd Made-in-Ghana Bazaar takes off

The second Made-in-Ghana Bazaar, an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, opened in Accra yesterday with about 200 local exhibitors participating in the annual event.

The bazaar was organised, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Export Promotion Centre, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and other institutions, aimed at promoting the manufacture, export, sale and use of made-in-Ghana products.

The three-day event, which is scheduled to end tomorrow, will see exhibitors display a wide range of products, including shoes, bags, beverages, jewellery, clothes and cosmetics that were exclusively made in the country.

This year’s event is on the theme: “Promoting made-in-Ghana products abroad”, and draws participants from the diplomatic community and some foreign missions, including the Korean and Angolan embassies in Ghana, who have pitched camps to showcase their cultural and culinary capabilities.  
 
Rationale

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms  Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said the made-in-Ghana bazaar was one of the strategies the ministry had adopted to support the private sector promote their products internationally, particularly small and medium sized enterprises.

“The expected outcome is gauged at boosting exports, creating more jobs, and strengthening our currency through increased earnings in foreign exchange. It is the ministry’s ultimate wish to contribute to economic growth,” she said.

She said since the maiden Bazaar in 2018, the ministry had facilitated the participation of Ghanaian companies in trade fairs and trade missions in other countries, including Ethiopia, India, Slovenia, Russia and Germany.

Trade liberalisation

Ms Botchwey underscored the need for all West African countries that had signed up to the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) to strictly adhere to the protocol to help achieve the objective of creating a common market to promote intra West African trade.

She said as the host unit of the nation’s ECOWAS operations, the ministry had received continuous complaints from Ghanaian manufacturers registered under the ELTS about the difficulties they were encountering in transporting and marketing their products within the ECOWAS corridor.

"The ministry is treating this matter very seriously and is using all the available diplomatic channels to address the challenge," she said.

For his part, a deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Carlos Ahenkorah, said in line with its mandate of ensuring that the country’s trade and industrial development was strong, the trade ministry would continue to provide the necessary support for local businesses to thrive.

He urged all the exhibitors to take advantage of the event to establish relevant networks that could lead to big deals and opportunities.