Lufthansa Ghana opens avenue for Ghanaian traders

Accra, Oct. 17, GNA - Lufthansa Ghana Office has initiated moves to encourage traders in the country to source their goods from Germany and its European neighbours, cut their costs while reducing their overall travel time.

Consequently, the Accra Office through its Lufthansa Traders Club selected four members to tour a number of companies in two German cities, Frankfurt and Zweibrucken.

The companies they visited included the artistic Wertheim Village Store and the Designer Outlets in Zweibrucken, which had numerous designer clothes, leather, shoes, shirts, ties and a host of household and housing accessories on show.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after the visit, Mr Silvio Ulfheldher, the newly appointed Lufthansa Ghana Country Manager, said the airline in collaboration with companies in Germany took up the initiative because they wanted to reduce the travel time, costs and effort of Ghanaian businessmen and traders, who usually had to travel far and wide to source for goods for the local market. "The outlets we visited are the producers with favourite worldwide brands that offer reduced prices by up to 60 per cent to 70 per cent all year round. We also intend to provide support services in relation to freighting their wares from the shelves of the shops through customs right through shipment to Ghana."

Mr Ulfhelder said the OCI Shopping Centre in Zweibrucken, the largest of its kind in Europe with millions of visitors each week, offered the traders a limitless opportunity to access goods and services onto the Ghanaian market.

Mr Peter Hirsch, Marketing Manager of Designer Outlets, told the Ghana News Agency that the company had representation in four other European countries and was looking forward to opening up to Ghana and Ghanaian traders and business operators.

Mr Kwame Okomeng-Mensah, a member of the Lufthansa Traders Club, congratulated the Airline for the initiative and expressed the hope that the essence of getting goods at relatively competitive prices would be achieved.

He urged the Management of Lufthansa to come up with more of such opportunities to increase Ghana-German collaboration.