MANUFACTURING SECTOR FACING CHALLENGES (SPREAD)

The Vice-President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) responsible for small and medium-scale enterprises, Mrs Leticia Osafo Addo, has observed that the country is losing its huge potential in industrial development because of challenges in the production and manufacturing sector.
She explained that 80 per cent of jobs in the private sector were made up of the labour force in the manufacturing sector.
The AGI vice-president noted that presently, services, trade and commerce were doing very well but expressed regret that the same could not be said of the local production sector, a situation she described as worrisome.
Mrs Addo, who was opening a made-in-Ghana shop in Tema, said every nation’s development depended on its manufacturing capacities.
She commended the Director of the shop, Mrs Comfort Aniagyei, for taking the initiative to promote made-in-Ghana goods, instead of imported ones, many of which were usually of inferior quality.
She stated that it was a bold decision for the operators to dedicate their time and resources to market made-in-Ghana goods.
She said several attempts and initiatives by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in partnership with the AGI, to promote goods made in Ghana had been discouraging.
Mrs Addo was, therefore, full of praise for the operators of the shop and appealed to other entrepreneurs to consider promoting local goods to the advantage of the economy of the country.
She appealed to the government to have a second look at the tariffs and taxes on imported goods, as compared to locally produced goods, stating that the 7.5 per cent withholding tax on SMEs could gradually erode the working capital of entrepreneurs.
The Director of Ghana Made Ltd. Mrs Comfort Aniagyei, said the shop had been set up to bridge the gap between producers and consumers.
She noted that the shop would provide good quality made-in-Ghana consumable products to make it easy for consumers to come by local items.
She said Ghana Made Ltd is a one-stop centre for all goods made in Ghana.