GHANA TO EARN MORE MONEY FROM TRADITIONAL EXPORTS (PAGE 38, NOV 12)

THE Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, has stated that with improvement in the export of non-traditional products, Ghana can earn GH¢5 billion in 2015.
This, she said, would make it possible for the country to attain a middle-income status with a per capita income of US$1,000 by the year 2020.
“We have set ourselves an ambitious goal of achieving a middle-income status with a qualitative benchmark of US$1,000 per capita by 2020, using export as the main springboard for realising this vision,” Ms Tetteh said.
The minister made these remarks when she addressed a stakeholders’ forum on the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) in Koforidua.
She said considering the small size of Ghana’s domestic market, the export sector provided the best option for optimising production possibilities and a quicker way of integrating the country into the global economy.
Ms Tetteh said since the non-traditional sector in that direction would create more wealth, generate employment and improve the welfare of the people, it was, therefore, necessary that EDIF would be well resourced to support that sector.
The minister, who acknowledged the role EDIF had played in promoting the non-traditional sector since its inception in 2001 in areas such as agro-processing, salt mining, wood processing, handicraft, garments and textile, as well as pharmaceuticals and plastics, called for the right stimuli, through adequate, affordable and timely finance, for the sector.
Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Agriculture, expressed regret that although agriculture played a key role in the country’s economy, it was still being practised at a subsistence level with many farmers using hoes and cutlasses for land clearing.
He said another worrying aspect of farming in Ghana was the high cost of tractor services for land clearing and non-application of fertiliser, all contributing to low productivity of agricultural produce.
The minister expressed concern about the inability of some prospective exporters to honour orders due to limited production base, while most of them were not able to meet the required quality standard and had their products rejected, causing embarrassment to the ministry.
Mr Ahwoi said it was due to such challenges that a number of measures such as offering of credit facilities, subsidy for the procurement of inputs and mechanised services, as well as the development of agricultural exports, were being taken to support farmers.
An official of the Prudential Bank told the meeting that EDIF, since 2001, had approved GH¢13,519,862 to the bank for on-lending to its beneficiaries.