Dr Afua Asabea Asare, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), has urged Trade Promotion Organisations in West Africa to deal head-on with the challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, the current exposure of West African economies to the vagaries of the external environment must serve as a turning point in the trading dynamics in the sub-region and transformations in the lives of the people.
“We do not have the luxury of time to wait for the current overlapping global crisis of war and COVID-19 and the attendant disequilibrium to simmer down before we take action.
“Moreover, we do not have a conclusive grasp or the ability to forecast with certainty when the current headwinds are going to ease for economies, industries and individual companies to be at their productive capacities.”
Dr Afua Asabea Asare
Dr Asare made this known when addressing the opening session of the annual general meeting of the ECOWAS Trade Promotion Organisation Network in Accra.
The CEO stressed that organisations must be strengthened in their resolve to deal with the difficulties such as the consistent hikes in prices, soaring unemployment, shortage of essential commodities, and supply chain disruptions by increasing trade flows amongst member countries.
Dr Asare noted that the Network should be a platform on which business partnerships and synergies are created and deployed. She, therefore, pledged GEPA’s readiness to support the successful implementation of activities.
Using Digitalization to Boost Trading
The CEO, moreover, called on members to adopt digitalization as one of the means to boost trading across the globe and cited GEPA’s Impact Hub as an example of a physical IT space that provides multiple support programmes to exporters. She added that governments and other relevant bodies must be ready to support TPOs in the region to execute programmes that are regional in nature.
Dr Ezra Yakusak, the President of the Ecowas Trade Promotion Organisation Network, on his part, indicated that the two-day AGM provided a unique opportunity to pursue the goal of economic integration. He, therefore, urged members to focus on how to use the network to play a pivotal role in galvanizing members to explore and benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement through various instrumentalities of trade.
“We cannot at this point be overwhelmed by challenges. We must set aside our differences and work as brothers and sisters that we are for the collective good of our people. The region should form a formidable force to take advantage of this largest single African market with over $500 billion in trade.”
Dr Ezra Yakusak
Mr Kolawole Sofola, Acting Director of Trade Directorate Ecowas Commission, noted that Trade Promotion Organisations are critical to the recovery process required by MSMEs to rebuild bigger and to rebuild better. He averred that the current difficult situation, however, should be used as an opportunity to change traditional operating models to do things better, take risks, and drive innovation for sustainability and green growth.
Ms Pamela Coke-Hamilton, the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, commended the network for its commitment and the European Union for its financial support for the West Africa Competitiveness Programme.
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