Chief Executive Officer-Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, has said that the Virtual Ghana Trade E-Commerce platform will add value and be an integral part of GEPA’s activities like the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS).
She made this known during the Virtual Ghana E-Commerce Platform launch – developed with technical assistance from the Compete Ghana programme – and symbolic handing-over of the platform to GEPA.
The E-Commerce platform seeks to provide information and intelligence on opportunities in the foreign markets; promote Ghanaian products; and foster business-to-business linkages and follow-ups on shipments to address post-clearance issues arising in the export markets.
Dr. Asare indicated that NEDS is currently in its third year of implementation, and is expected to achieve non-traditional exports of US$25.3billion by 2029.
According to her, GEPA has implemented various programmes and activities within the framework of NEDS – which include support for expansion of the targetted priority products supply capacity to enhance capacity-building for export-oriented small and medium enterprises.
“It was in view of this market expansion and diversification efforts that GEPA took the initiative to establish the first Ghana Trade House in Nairobi, Kenya, in May this year,” she noted.
“The E-Commerce platform is going to add a touch of digitalisation, and the success of Kenya will make a case for its replication in other strategic markets.”
Team Lead-Compete Ghana Programme, Nicholas Gebara, also highlighted that the E-Commerce platform will boost sales for companies registered on the platform.
He further indicated that there is still some fine-tuning to be done by GEPA to finalise contractual agreements with any company that wishes to be part of the platform, and is hopeful that a lot of companies will come onboard.
Key expert of the Technical Assistance Team-Compete Ghana Programme, Gerald Nyarko-Mensah, also added that – in its quest to upgrade the export industry – Ghana has embarked on attempts to establish varying degrees of Export Trade Houses, Export Management and Export Trading companies.
Mr. Nyarko-Mensah stressed that Ghanaian exporters often face challenges in reaching international markets and accessing adequate market information & intelligence, hence the need for an E-Commerce platform.
