GNCCI & JoyBusiness AfCFTA Seminar: the private sector responsible for formalizing business strategies or loser

International trade expert and senior partner at AB and David, David Ofosu Dortey has tasked the private sector to formalize its trade strategies in line with government policies or lose the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

According to him, the implementation of the agreement leaves no room for informal operations, hence the need for good alignment with government policies.

Speaking at the virtual awareness seminar organized by the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Joy Business on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Ofosu Dortey said: “If you don’t formalize not your business, it won’t be much use because you will just get carried away; the strategy must therefore be formal. Now it doesn’t have to be very big, but at least part of it needs to be formalized. “

“This is because formalization helps you recognize the industry in which you operate,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Ernest Chemist Managing Director Ernest Bediako Sampong has expressed confidence that opening up new markets will help manufacturers increase employment as there will be more demand for products.

“We’re going to have a technology transfer and I’m sure companies like GSK and some of the other multinationals will set up factories or collaborate with existing companies to enable them to export to the sub-region. It is just as important for us because there will be the possibility of many opportunities ”

“I think over time we’ll set up vaccine factories. We are going to have an increase in industrial establishments because we are going to have a bigger market and the competition will be easier. At the same time, we foresee some challenges, looking at the factories that we have here, ”he added.

The event was under the theme “Adopting the right business strategies to fully benefit from it”.

Earlier this month, Minister-designate for Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen said the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would help lay a solid foundation for the “Africa beyond aid” program.

He said removing tariffs under the AfCFTA would boost intra-African trade, boost investment and innovation, foster structural transformation, improve food security, boost economic growth and diversify exports.