MANAGEMENT EDUCATION PROGRAMME LAUNCHED (PAGE 57)

THE Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President’s Initiatives is implementing a support programme to improve productivity and competitiveness of Ghanaian products on the international market.
To this end, a national quality management education and sensitisation programme to the country’s trade and industry has been launched.
The Deputy Minister of the sector, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, in a speech read for on his behalf at the launch of the programme in Tema, said the initiatives would focus on how small-and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) could achieve their goals to promote exports.
He mentioned some of the constraints confronting local products as the inability of some products to meet regulatory requirements and the inconsistencies in product quality.
Mr Agyemang-Manu said the new initiative was aimed at creating awareness of what consumers demanded in destination markets and what the legal requirements were.
He said the ministry had also launched a website that would give information to help exporters to meet the point of entry demands on the various international markets.
Mr Agyeman-Manu described the country’s trade policy as “outward looking”, noting that it addressed the challenges in the global markets, with its standards and demands that were required from the Ghanaian firms.
He observed that quality had become a very crucial element in successfully entering high-income markets which were valid for both consumer and industrial goods.
He also cautioned that industrialists must ensure its success by getting fully involved in the training of their staff, and not merely implementing the systems without cost.
He urged the SMEs to be quality-conscious to enable them meet the competition in the trade sector of the economy.
Mr Agyemang-Manu added that the workshops would present tools on how entrepreneurs would address issues of quality management systems in their companies.
He was of the view that such techniques would improve the performance of the SMEs.
The minister commended the Athena Foods Limited, manufacturers of fruit juices, for setting the pace in the search for quality management systems in Ghana.
The company which operates in the free zone enclave in Tema has operated successfully, while managing within the constraints of quality systems; in about six years ago, it received organic certification from SKAL of Holland, followed with similar certifications from SGF of Germany, Coca-Cola, among others.
Mr Agyeman-Manu said the practice of quality management systems had afforded Athena Foods Limited the opportunity to achieve its goals.
He urged all other companies to emulate the success story of the Athena Foods Limited which was used as a showcase in the food processing sector to open new opportunities and to enter export markets, so as to be more competitive domestically to demonstrate Ghana’s ability to produce high quality goods to the outside world.
Inspection of the factory exposed a systematic production floor with technical markings and the exposure of workers to quality measures.
The Managing Director (MD) of Athena Foods Limited, Dr Tony Antwi Mensah, in a speech, called on industrialists to accept the initiative of quality systems by the Ministry of Trade and show their eagerness to support the programme.
Members of the National Steering Group, led by Mrs Goski Alabi, inspected the factory floor and were taken through the production lines by the MD of the Athena Foods Limited, where value was being added to turn pineapples into juices.