Head of the National AfCFTA Coordinating Office, Fareed Arthur is advocating for a coordinated approach towards achieving the set of national goals that are captured in the national exports export development strategy (NEDS).
Speaking at an inauguration and maiden meeting of sector groups/committees to drive the NEDS strategy in Accra, he said an effective collaboration amongst industry players will facilitate a uniformed national action on boosting Ghana’s non-traditional exports.
“The NEDS is a key policy enabler to ensure that Ghanaian traders and enterprises are equipped to compete on the market, stressing that the effective implementation of the strategy hinges on well refined structure, one that provides policy, technical and input from the private sector,” he added.
Mr. Arthur expressed optimism that the 17 identified products offer Ghana the comparative advantage and provides a great opportunity to empower women and youth-owned small and medium enterprises to take advantage of the AfCFTA market and to diversify the country’s export base.
The NEDS is an initiative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry that is being implemented by GEPA to develop the potential of non-traditional exports through industrialization and intense collaboration between government and the private sector.
To ensure the successful implementation of the NEDS, the strategy document proposed a governance structure comprising an inter-ministerial oversight committee, the steering committee, the NEDS Secretariat and sector group committees to provide the needed guidance and supervision for the strategy.
Sector groups and the various committees will be based on the priority product groupings including non-agro products, trade and investment facilitation, agro-products, tech and innovation, services export, transport and logistics, finance, infrastructure and utilities, local government and creative and industrial arts.
By Emmanuel Kwarteng, Contributor