The Ghana Export Promotion Authority has organised an online export training programme for exporters to build their capacity for the export market.
According to Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Human Resource and Administration at Ghana Export Promotion Authority, (GEPA) Albert Kassim Diwura, it has become necessary for exporters to be equipped with the requisite knowledge as this creates a path for the industry sector to thrive; adding that without the needed knowledge and skills, exporters will find it difficult to do business outside.
“Once you build the capacity of exporters or once you have the human resource poised to do the business, you have already covered about 70 percent of the work; because if you do not have the knowledge or do not know where you are going, you will not know which road to take.
“So having done this course will keep you going and knowing what to do right. So building capacity, for us, is what we need now, so that we can take our export to the next level,” he said during a graduation ceremony organised for 19 individuals who had fully completed a one-year online Diploma in International Trade programme.
Mr. Diwura stated that there are enormous opportunities in terms of trade and export, but the human resource to drive those opportunities are few; hence, GEPA is bringing onboard this programme to help increase output in terms of exporting.
Chief Executive Officer for GEPA, Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, giving her remarks during the occasion stressed the need for exporters to be properly prepared to ensure an increase in the country’s export earnings.
Dr. Asare stated that the national strategy’s success, which is seen as a channel for Ghana’s economic breakthrough, hinges on 3 Strategic Pillars: which are to expand and diversify the supply base for value-added industrial export products and services; improve the business regulatory environment for exports; and build and expand the required human capital for industrial export development and marketing.
She is very hopeful that the multi-faceted course content has equipped the graduates with opportunities to understand how to trade internationally and define business-winning plans in an international trade environment, especially on the African continent.
“It is expected that graduates of the Export School will be capable of transforming Ghana’s natural resources and raw commodities into manufactured economic wealth. I want to believe that I am looking at the next crop of business minds who will energise the stasis of our continent within the decade, and give us better figures to call out when we talk about intra-African trade,” she noted.
Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Herbert Krapa, commended GEPA for putting together this initiative through partnering with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and Institute of Export and International Trade (IEIT) to roll out such a programme that seeks to transform the trade and export industry.
He congratulated the graduates for putting in the work that has ensured their successful graduation, stating it is good news, especially, in this critical time when engaging in the economy’s productive sector has become more crucial.
