Business owners who participated in some modules of the Compete Ghana programme have expressed exponential increment in their revenues saying they have been exposed to diverse strategies to make an impact in their trade. The traders said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the Association of Ghana Industries-European Union's (EU) fair, dubbed: 'Industrialisation Through Sustainable and Efficient Supply Chains' in Accra. The Compete Ghana Programme is an EU-funded initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to build the capacity of business owners to compete favourably on the international market. Madam Francisca Nana Ama Diokoto, Chief Executive Officer of Nature's Beauty, producers of natural cosmetics, said: 'The training has helped me in diverse ways and I think it is going to expose me to the international market. I am very grateful.' She said she had gained much knowledge about international export requirements, packaging, certification, among other things and she was ready to export to the EU market. Madam Stephanie Appiah, the Chief Executive Officer of Hepany, producers of natural hair care products, expressed her readiness to export to the EU market. Mr Nicholas Gebara, Team Lead for Compete Ghana, said for Ghanaian exporters, since 2016, exporting to the EU market was duty-free and quota-free. He said the company was assisting some ministries and agencies to build their capacities to help the private sector implement the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Mr Gebera said some challenges the businesses faced were the procedures and legal requirements needed to export to the international market, an area which Compete Ghana assisted. Mr Gebara encouraged business organisations to build their capacities, and revise their existing plans to include the export strategies. 'Under the programme, we have 40 companies, and here we have just a selection of them to exhibit to us, but in the next three months we are coaching them to export and how to organise themselves to access the market in the EU.'

Source: Ghana News Agency