Ecobank Ghana holds export forum to support Ghanaians excel under AfCFTA | Business News

Ecobank Ghana has organised a forum to provide information about requirements and the changing trends in the export market.  

The forum, a collaboration between Ecobank and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, deliberated on ways to improve and provide further support to Ghanaian exporters and the export business in the country.

The forum also was a means to build and expand the operations of Ghanaian exporters across the African continent and the world at large.

Mrs Abena Osei-Poku, Regional Executive, Anglophone West Africa and Managing Director Ecobank Ghana, highlighted the importance of exports to the Ghanaian economy, underlying the bank’s decision to provide the needed assistance to businesses in the sector to thrive. 

According to Mrs Osei-Poku, the export sector supports many Ghanaian households. It sustains livelihoods through job creation across various sectors of the economy. At the same time, foreign currency proceeds from export businesses also remain critical for the country’s trade balance and balance of payment positions. 

Despite the immense potential of the sector, she said Ghanaian exporters, within the traditional and non-traditional sectors, had over the years faced various challenges, including limited access to finance, which then affects their ability to scale and increase production capacity, inadequate collateral, stringent international trade restrictions, limited access to innovative technology, among others. 

She acknowledged that notwithstanding these challenges, the export businesses in Ghana continue to work with determination and perseverance to make a positive impact on the national economy.  

“Ghana ended 2022 with some USD20billion in export revenue, mainly to the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, United States, India, and China. Conspicuously missing from this list of the main export destinations is export within the continent of Africa. 

Our goal is to provide solutions, which will enhance and enable scalability of export businesses and equip you to take advantage of the numerous opportunities out there. As collaborators, we ought to be ready to meet increasing demands by building capacity to position our export industry so that they can compete favourably in the global marketplace,” she stated. 

Mrs Osei-Poku said the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presented huge opportunities for Ghanaian exporters, adding Ecobank Ghana was strategically positioned with an array of products and services which are, convenient, reliable, and accessible to support exporters across the continent.  

“Our aim is to dialogue with you to enable us to better understand your true needs and expectations so that we can serve you better. Let us use this platform to build mutually beneficial business relationships, and also to support the national economy,” she said. 

Mrs Osei-Poku encouraged the exporters to sign onto the Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub, a single platform, which can connect them with other businesses in one big African market with some 1.4 billion people.  

Madam Charlotte Amanquah, Regional Head for Commercial Banking in Ecobank Ghana also said the forum was to promote export and facilitate trade in the African Continent and the Sub-Region.

Madam Amanquah added that Ecobank has a unique advantage in facilitating trade between Ghana and other exporters in any business mainly because the bank operates in 33 countries across Africa.

She, however, urged Ghanaian exporters, especially women to join Ecobank to tap into the help the bank offers to its customers through its partner, Ghana Export Promotion Authority to onboard these businesses to benefit from the solutions the bank provides.

“In Ecobank, one of our main solutions facilitating trade in all 33 countries where we operate is what we call ‘single market trade hub’. This is like a virtual market; we bring together those who are selling or exporting their products virtually and those who are interested in buying.

The platform is facilitating this by onboarding exporters of any business and introducing them to others who are interested in buying from them and anyone who wants to buy any product out there”, she explained.

She further noted that Ecobank’s ‘single market trade hub’ was the free solution for all customers interested in trading on the African Continent.

Mr. Abdallah Z. Khalifa Banda – Head of Trade in Services Export, Manufactures & Petrochemicals Department of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) explained to exporters some of the new requirements from overseas markets.