GEPA holds marketing training for exporters

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) is holding a-four-day training in export marketing fundamentals for over 30 exporters and financial actors across the country.

The aim of the workshop is to support the export community to acquire managerial, technical and trade capacity as well as understand the current global export trends to give Ghana a competitive edge.

Mr Stephen Normeshie, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, speaking at the opening session on Monday said the Authority would scale up marketing training programmes for exporters to enhance capacity and ensure they met required standards in the global market.

He said the Ghana Export School was always ready to develop training modules to meet the needs of product associations and identified groups of persons.

Mr Normeshie said building the skills and capacities of exporters was very critical if the country’s goal of increasing export returns was to be achieved.

He said exporters needed to be schooled on recent trends and changes in the export market in order to remain competitive and also help the country to grow its export base.

Among the topics being treated are Export Marketing Research, Product Planning and Product Adaptation, Legal Contracts and Negotiations, Sanitary and Photosanitary Specification and Export Procedures and Documentation.

Giving a gist of the performance of the Non Traditional Exports (NTEs) sector, Mr Normeshie said exports grew steadily at an annual average rate of about 14.79 per cent from $777.59 million in 2005 to $2.514 billion in 2014.

However, in 2012 the total earnings saw a decline in earnings to $2.364 billion from $2.423 billion in 2011.

In 2013, earnings from the sector went up by 3.05 per cent to $2.436 billion.

Mr Normeshie said the statistics showed that there was the need to ensure that the sector’s growth was doubled and sustained since the sector held the best prospect for rapid economic development.

He expressed the hope that the training would provide the opportunity to contribute towards a much stronger sector.

The Ghana Export School was set up by GEPA, the National Export Trade Support Institution of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) responsible for the facilitation, development and promotion of Ghanaian exports in 1987, to address the training needs of the export community.

In an interview with some of the exporters, Mr Richard Odoom, Accounts and Administrative Manager of Bet Export Ghana Limited, exporters of Cashew nuts and medicinal plants, said the training was helping to understand the new trends in the export market.

He said the exposure and the new knowledge would go a long way to help grow his business.

Mrs Mildred Ahiaglo-Amuzu, a Banker, said understanding the peculiar needs of exporters would help her department to know how to deal with the exporters.