The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana (EFG) has organized the maiden Made-in-Ghana Summit to deepen the conversation around the need to promote the patronage and consumption of Ghanaian products and services with the broader aim of building home-grown competitive brands that can cushion the growth of the nation.
The one-day summit on the theme, “Building Strong Ghanaian Brands for Global Competitiveness”, convened stakeholders in the local production space to discuss and proffer workable strategies to improve the consumption and patronage of locally-made products and services to drive the growth of the nation.
In a speech read on his behalf, Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyeremanten, reiterated the need to build resilient and competitive local brands to underpin the sustainable development of the country.
He said that government’s commitment to this agenda was the flagship One District One Factory programme which has been designed to decentralize industrial development to ensure an even and special spread of manufacturing industries across all districts of the country.
“A major part of the solution we seek to solve the current crisis of cedi depreciation and rising inflation has been known to us all along. That is the need to look within and build Ghanaian manufacturing businesses with products that can compete anywhere in the world,” he emphasized.
According to the minister, the Made in Ghana Summit was a good platform to discuss the opportunities and challenges of building strong Ghanaian brands for global competitiveness and further pledged government’s support to provide an enabling environment to make it a reality.
The summit also unveiled top Ghanaian entrepreneurs drawn from the local manufacturing and services sectors that have shown strong commitment to the Made-in-Ghana agenda with reputable businesses in key industries including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, maritime logistics, automobile and aviation.
They were: Dr. Daniel Mckorley, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, McDan Group of Companies; Mr. Gopal C. Vasu, Managing Director, M&G Pharmaceuticals Limited; Mr. Ghazi Azar, Managing Director, Azar Group of Companies; Mr. Tanal Ghandour, Managing Director, Ghandour Cosmetics Limited; and Mr. Hayssam Fakhry, Managing Director, Interplast Limited.
The rest were Mr. Moses Baiden Jnr, Founder& Chairman, Margins ID Group; Mr. Pawan Aidasani, Chief Executive Officer, Jay Kay Industries and Investments Ltd.; Mr. Ashok Mohinani, Executive Director, Mohinani Group; Mr. Salem Kalmoni, Managing Director, Japan Motors Trading Co. Limited; and Mr. Mukesh V Thakwani, Chief Executive Officer, B5 Plus Limited.
Special Recognition Awards were presented to Kenyan High Commissioner, Mr. Eliphas Barine, Turkish Ambassador, Mrs. Ozlem Ergun Uluesen, Lebanese Ambassor, Maher Kheir, and the Maltese High Commissioner, Jean Claude Galea Mallia for their immense contribution to the development of the local business environment.
The summit was well attended by government officials, heads of key trade agencies and private business associations and corporate executives as well as the diplomatic corps. Dignitaries included the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, Ambassador Mike Ocquaye Jnr; Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority, Ms. Delese Mimi Darko; Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority.
Other attendees were: Dr. Afua Asabea Asare; and the president of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Clement Osei Amoako. It was chaired by the celebrated academician and economist Professor Stephen Adei.