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Regional conferences on the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) and the National Export Development Strategy will be held throughout the country during the month of November.
This follows the National Conference held at the Accra International Conference Center on October 20.th – twenty-oneS t 2020 and inaugurated by President Akufo-Addo with HE Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA as a special guest.
The events are being organized by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the AfCFTA National Coordination Office with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ghana Standards Authority , Food and Drug Authority, Ghana Eximbank, Ghana Revenue Authority – Customs as supporting institutions and Stanbic Bank as sponsor.
The first Regional Conference is scheduled for the Ashanti region and will take place at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Adum, Kumasi, on Tuesday, November 10, 2020.
The conference will be opened by Simon Osei-Mensah, Regional Minister of the Ashanti Region with Dr. Baffour Ossei Hyeaman Brantuo VI, Mawerehene de Asantehene as guest speaker.
Hon. Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, will deliver the keynote address on the theme of the conference: “Empowering Ghanaian Businesses to Harness the Benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement within the Framework of the National Strategy Development of Exports (NEDS) ”.
The aim of the regional conferences is to sensitize relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors, especially Ghanaian companies in the various regions, on export development interventions aimed at empowering the private sector.
The regional events are intended to be much more interactive with the aim of engaging the private sector to allow them to appreciate the opportunities that exist within the recently launched National Export Development Strategy, and how they can effectively access the opportunities within the AfCFTA. Representatives of the export community, private entrepreneurs, senior public service officials, representatives of the private sector in the regions, development partners, and the media are expected to actively participate in these regional discussions.
The month of November has been dedicated to these traveling exhibitions to ensure that business communities in all 16 regions appreciate the relevance and impact of the AfCFTA on their businesses and how the National Export Development Strategy is positioned to empower the private sector to access to the African market through interventions in exporting.
The AfCFTA / NEDS awareness train is expected to call in all fifteen (15) regions after the National Conference in Accra, as trade under the AfCFTA is scheduled to start on January 1, 2021.
The first National Conference on AfCFTA was organized by the government in August 2019, followed by the second in October 2020, where the National Export Development Strategy was launched.
