As part of activities to mark the Christmas festivities without hiccups in regard to finding food items, clothing, accessing health among others, AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) Obuasi Mine’s trade exhibition dubbed ‘Obuasi Trade Show’ (OTS) has successfully taken off at the Black Park in Obuasi, Ashanti Region.
The OTS, which is in its 5th year, has seen several businesses in attendance aside from food and clothing. This year’s edition has also brought together officials from insurance companies, health facilities and some creatives from the world of entertainment in attendance to exhibit their talent.
Several other fun-packed activities have been intertwined with marketing aspects of the OTS to make it more appealing for people in and around the Obuasi enclave.
Speaking to journalists after launching the OTS, Senior Manager Sustainability of AGA Obuasi Mine, Emmanuel Baidoo, noted that the objective is to be able to create a common platform – a one-stop shop – to bring together entrepreneurs and other creatives to ensure growth in the area.
“This has been one of the flagship enterprise development activities of AngloGold that we have consistently implemented in partnership with the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), Obuasi East and Municipal Assemblies, and other partners. We create a platform where these entities can interact and, ultimately, be able to drive sales to showcase what people of Obuasi are doing to help drive the economy.
“This year, we are strongly focusing on the creative economy; we want to create a platform for the large, youthful population of Obuasi who we believe are committed to the creative industry. We are using this as a platform to bring them up, and through this they might catch the attention of others; and we can see some growth from there.”
A representative from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Enoch Newton, in a remark noted the ministry is always elated to see trade shows of this kind that seek to showcase the potential of manufacturers and artisans. He further encouraged businesses and artisans to take advantage of the several training schemes by their agencies to boost the quality of their products and operations.
“As part of our mandate, we pursue flagship industrial development initiatives such as the One District, One Factory; enhance domestic trade; ensure consumer protection; and create a business-enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
“These functions are taken up by the ministry through a number of agencies operating under its purview, such as GEA. This beautiful trade show is a manifestation of the good work that GEA is doing. These interventions of the trade ministry as well as GEA will however become a mirage – if Ghanaians do not patronise made in Ghana products which can match any foreign product in terms of quality,” he said.
