Albert Kassim Diwura, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Human Resource Administration, GEPA, launching the one-week export school in Kumasi. Those with him on the dais include, Assistant Commissioner Immigration(ACI), Constant Boateng(seated left), Deputy Ashanti Regional Commander.
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has extended its export school program outside Accra to Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital.
The five-day intensive program seeks to sensitize the importers to become abreast with accepted norms and practices associated with importation.
Trade areas
About 40 participants, comprising mostly entrepreneurs would be trained on product certification, packaging and labelling, export market research, export quality management, product planning and adaption as well as online marketing.
The remaining training areas include branding and marketing, basic bookkeeping, introduction to legal contracts and negotiation, export financing, and export procedure.
Mandate
An autonomous body set up in 1969, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority gives impetus to exports from Ghana.
The Authority works under the Ministry of Trade and Industry and is the central institution that works towards the promotion and development of non-traditional exports from the country.
Its main objective is to identify products suitable for export and locate appropriate markets for them and provide Ghanaian exporters with all the required help, in order to enter competitive markets abroad.
Event
Speaking at the opening session of the Export School in Kumasi on Monday, October 10, 2022, Albert Kassim Diwura, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, of Human Resource Administration, GEPA, urged the participants to take a keen interest in the selected topics chosen for the week’s school.
According to him, the authority intended to hold a similar export school for the remaining regional capitals across the country, and that the next two editions would be held in Takoradi and Tamale.
Mr Diwura urged Ghanaian importers not to compete among themselves, but rather collaborate more effectively in order to become competitive in today’s global export market.
He urged the participants to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which seeks to boost the continent’s manufacturing sector by facilitating access to new markets for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), increasing economies of scale and facilitating export diversification.
Export guidelines
On his part, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Immigration (ACI) Constant Boateng urged exporters to always work closely with the Immigration Service in order to be abreast with the formalities associated with migration and export.
He reiterated the Authority’s mandate to advise on and ensure the effective implementation of all laws and regulations pertaining to immigration and related issues.
The Service, he said, would continue to regulate and monitor the entry, residence, employment and exit of all foreigners, as well as promote migration that contributes to the economic, social and developmental interests of the country.