Madam Sivine Jansen, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Germany to Ghana, says the economic recovery effort of Ghana is commendable.
She observed that the country had come a long way, from the situation of not paying its creditors by the end of last year to the attempts of restructuring the economy, which inadvertently aided Ghana to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
“What I hear from the representatives in that regard is that Ghana has really been doing its job to get into greener pastures.
“When we look at last year and we look at this year, the development we are seeing is actually quite positive,” she said during the opening ceremony of the 6th edition of the International Trade Show for West Africa Agrofood and West Africa Plastprintpack conference and exhibition in Accra on Tuesday November 21, 2023.
The event, which is jointly organised by the AHK Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana and Fairtrade Messe, aims to help enhance Ghana’s self-sufficiency and improve supply.
Madam Jansen said the country had been successful at allaying the fears of some German investors who were worried about the economic situation in the country, adding that “we do see a certain stabilisation when it comes to the inflation rate.”
In all, about 70 exhibitors from 12 countries are participating in the event and presenting products, technologies and solutions specifically tailored for the Ghanian and West African market.
The exhibitors are from Ghana, Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, Nigeria, Poland, Thailand, and Ukraine.
Ms. Daniela d’Oriandi, Ambassador of Italy to Ghana and Togo, noted that despite Ghana’s economic challenges in 2022, bilateral trade volumes between Ghana and Italy reached 874 million euros while in July this year, bilateral trade had reached 300 million euros.
“The most important part of Italy’s export to Ghana remains capital goods, where over 90 million euros of machinery and equipment have been traded in 2022, an increase of 30 per cent compared to the previous year,” she said.
She noted that the participation of seven Italian manufacturers of machinery and products for the plastic, printing, packaging and agribusiness industries in this year’s exhibition provided the opportunity for Ghanaian companies to learn about the possibilities of Italy to upgrade local production capacity and meet the increasingly sophisticated demand.
She said it would also improve competition and help meet the demands of foreign markets with more added value products.
“We invest in innovation, training, provide technical assistance, and our products are reliable, and there are many initiatives to promote the trade between Ghana and Italy,”
Mr. Paul März, Managing Director of Fairtrade, noted in his opening remarks that, with almost 40 million population, Ghana is a huge food market, and its expenditure in the food and beverage sector is growing steadily and is “by far the largest segment of the Ghanaian processing industry”.
