The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), has launched the Accra Trade House and Friday Market to strengthen access for Ghanaian products and boost the country’s export performance.
The facility will serve as a central aggregation and holding centre for products destined for Ghana’s trade houses in Nairobi, Philadelphia and London, while supporting plans to establish additional trade houses in strategic export markets in Europe.
Speaking at the launch in Accra on Friday, October 23, the Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, Francis Kojo Kwarteng Arthur, said the facility would strengthen efforts to connect Ghanaian producers with international buyers and improve the visibility of high-quality Made-in-Ghana products.
“The Accra trade house provides a permanent marketplace that complements our trade fairs, buyer-seller engagement and international market entry programmes,” he said.
He identified Hamburg in Germany, Palermo in Italy and Amsterdam in the Netherlands as potential locations for additional trade houses as GEPA seeks to expand the reach of Ghanaian products.
Mr Arthur said the initiative was informed by the need to give buyers direct access to products, noting that physical interaction with goods and producers could improve buyers’ confidence and encourage commercial transactions.
The GEPA CEO also announced the introduction of a monthly Friday Market at the Accra Trade House, which will allow producers to showcase and sell their products directly to consumers, wholesalers, retailers and institutional buyers.
The market will operate on the last Friday of every month from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., featuring products such as cocoa derivatives, cashews, bananas, yams, plantains, pineapples, handicrafts and other export-ready goods.
Mr Arthur said the platform would provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with opportunities to test their products, gather customer feedback, build business connections and strengthen their brands.
He reaffirmed GEPA’s commitment to supporting Ghanaian businesses to develop export-ready products, explore new markets and increase non-traditional export earnings in line with the government’s accelerated export development programme.
SOURCE: CNR
