Economic zones policy outlined - As Govt baits companies

The government is formulating a special economic zones policy to create an environment to attract domestic and foreign companies to establish their base operations in Ghana.

They will typically focus on specific industries or sectors such as manufacturing, technology or trade with the primary objective of creating jobs, promoting export, facilitating technology transfer and increasing foreign direct investment. 

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made this known at the National Awards for Export Achievements in Accra last Tuesday night.

It was jointly organised by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) on the theme: “Recognising Excellence: Driving Sustainable Export to Accelerate Ghana’s Prosperity”.

President Akufo-Addo said the government acknowledged the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and their impact on Ghanaian businesses, adding that “a lot of Ghanaian businesses have been severely hit, some to the extent of folding up operations”.

Challenging

He described the last three years as challenging and noted that the government had been doing its utmost best to address the situation and expressed happiness that “by the grace of God and with hard work and the Prudent management of the economy we have turned the corner”.

The President explained that all macroeconomic indices, including the rate of inflation, exchange rate stability or economic growth rate were all now pointing in the right direction. 

“Our continuing commitment for the growth of business is demonstrable with many of the interventions we are injecting into the economy with the ultimate objective of addressing the bottlenecks you encounter in your operations,” President Akufo-Addo said.

He added that those measures would eventually increase the country's balance of trade.

Infrastructure 

The President indicated that over the last seven years, the government had given true meaning to the phrase “unprecedented infrastructural developments”, so much so that some people saw images of ongoing projects and thought they were photoshopped.

He mentioned them to include new roads, airways and railway transportation systems as well as the expansion of the ports which were all geared towards helping “you conduct your business smoothly”.

President Akufo-Addo indicated that the government would continue to support those two organisations to discharge their strategic roles of sustaining the development and growth of Ghana's non-traditional sector.

Awards

Over 50 Ghanaian companies and individuals were recognised for their sterling performance in the export business over the last two years – 2021 and 2022.

The year’s event, which was a fusion of the 31st and 32nd editions, was to the formally recognise the contributions of exporters in the non-traditional export (NTE) sector to economy, encourage higher levels of performance and sustain the interest of companies in the export business.

A steel manufacturing company, B5 Plus Limited, received the Exporter of the Year award for 2021 and 2022.

The Woman Exporter of the Year for 2022 went to DTRT Apparel Limited, exporters of clothing, while Touch Skies Ghana Limited, exporters of yam, won the 2021 Woman Exporter of the Year.

Other winners were Nestle Ghana Limited, Kingdom Exim Ghana Limited, Ghana Oil Palm Development Company Ltd, Olam Food Ingredients Ghana Limited and Azar Chemicals Industries Limited, among others.

Promoting sustainable practices

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GEPA, Dr Afua Asabea Asare, said: “The 31st and 32nd of the President's National Awards for Export Excellence are a testament to the unwavering commitment to quality, innovation and the pursuit of excellence in the international market”. 
“As we recognise and honour the excellence of the titans of the export industry, we also acknowledge the pivotal role exports play in shaping the economic landscape of our country,” she added.

Dr Asare explained that the change in the global landscape called for sustainable practices as customers were becoming more conscious of the environmental and social consequences of the things they bought. 

Robust support system

For his part, the CEO of GFZA, Michael Oquaye Jnr, commended export companies for showcasing the quality and ingenuity of Ghanaian products and services on the global stage.

He said recognising excellence in exports required a robust support system which included providing exporters with the necessary infrastructure and streamlined regulatory frameworks.

In that regard, Mr Oquaye said the authority had increased water supply from 35 per cent to 75 per cent in the Tema Export Processing Zone and had recently secured a €1.8 million grant from German development cooperation (GIZ) to expand the existing water storage facility, with a storage capacity of two million gallons or 8,600 cubic metres.