[ 2021-02-28 ]

AfCFTA requires right strategies — Ernest Sampong
The Chief Executive of Ernest Chemists, Mr Ernest
Bediako Sampong, has said the implementation of
the African Continental Free Trade Agreement
(AfCFTA) will create more employment opportunities
in the pharmaceutical industry.
He said new markets would help manufacturers
increase employment due to the high demand for
products.



Mr Sampong, speaking at the Ghana National Chamber
of Commerce Industry (GNCCI) virtual sensitisation
seminar in Accra, said AfCFTA was a laudable idea
but, “I do not think it is going to be easy”.

He said the implementation would be challenging
because of the attitude of Africans towards
products that were manufactured on the continent.

Mr Sampong said the industry would benefit from
transfer of technology with international
pharmaceutical companies setting up factories in
Africa and creating employment opportunities.

The event was organised by GNCCI in partnership
with Joy Business and the Ghana Shippers Authority
on the theme: “AfCFTA: Adopting the right
business strategies to fully benefit”.



It was aimed at sensitising small scale businesses
to how they could strategise to benefit from the
agreement.

He said there would be opportunities for some
multinationals to also collaborate with existing
companies to enable them to export to the
sub-region.

Mr Sampong said there would be a possibility of
medicine security and a boost in industrial
investment and consequently called for workable
policies and programmes to facilitate
investments.

Energy Quest Show
He urged government to support the private sector
to develop their businesses to contribute to the
development of the economy.

”We urge government to waive taxes on equipment
used for manufacturing”.



A Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Trade and
Industry, Mr Anthony Nyame Baafi, said government
through the ministry had set up institutional
structures to support the implementation of the
agreement.

“We have the inter-ministerial, the national
AfCFTA Secretariat to provide information to
everybody, who wants access to any information,”
he said.

He said arrangements were in place to ensure that
member states took advantage of the agreement,
stressing that the government needed the private
sector to partake in the implementation of the
agreement and if there were any challenges, the
Ministry and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority
were ready to assist.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers
Authority, Ms Benonita Bismarck, said it was an
opportunity to partner with the GNCCI to educate
the private sector on how to maximise the benefits
of AfCFTA.

“It is all about education and sensitisation, so
at the end of it, we will go across the nation to
ensure that our stakeholders fully understand and
take advantage of this all-important concept,”
she said.

Source - GNA

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