Trade Minister commends Free Zones Authority, calls for export-driven industrialization

Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen has lauded the historic achievements of the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) at the Third Annual Investment Week held in Accra.

According to him, the Authority has over the years contributed to vast investment avenues and the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA).

Delivering remarks at the opening ceremony of the Investment Week, Alan Kyerematen called on investors to take full advantage of the AfCFTA to create more jobs and increase exports of locally produced goods.

Making a case for AfCFTA on industrialization in Africa, the Trade and Industry Minister cited the ease with which goods and services can be exchanged between member counties under the AfCTA protocol.

"The theme for the Investment Week celebration calls for championing export-led industrial growth; in the context of AfCFTA and World Trade. The Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) provides an opportunity for Ghana to increase its exports to other African countries through the creation of a single market, thus boosting intra-African trade.

The AfCFTA is tasked to implement protocols to eliminate trade barriers and cooperate with member states on investment and competition policies, intellectual property rights, settlement of disputes and other trade-liberating strategies", Alan Kyerematen told investors.

He added, "There is therefore the need to promote exports as a nation now more than ever before. As a country, we have enough local capacity couple with abundant resource endowment to produce our basic needs, as well as have enough to export for foreign exchange.

"Government agencies such as the Ghana Free Zones Authority will have to provide support to the private sector to among others, expand their productive capacity across all relevant value chains within the economy. This will not only promote exports, but greatly encourage value addition for import substitution."

The minister continued, "It is expected that through increased focus on the concept of Free Zones and Special Economic Zones, job creation will become one of the major benefits that the private sector will offer.

"As we are all aware, enterprises that operate under the Free Zones and Special Economic Zones have the capacity to generate significant employment opportunities," he concluded.

Since its establishment, the Free Zones Authority has created avenues for multiple goods and services to be exchanged between member counties as part of Africa's industrialization and exportation project.