Ghana cannot rely only on trade investment alone to raise capital and grow its economy, said the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Hon. Robert Ahomka-Lindsey.
Mr Ahomka-Lindsey indicated that the government of Ghana is interested in widening its trade partnership agreement to more countries by targeting countries across the globe.
‘’Selling to Ghanaians alone will not help transform the country. The economy must grow; therefore Ghana would have to extend its market.”
He revealed this during the launch of the New Trade Report; ‘Maximizing gains from Ghana’s Trade Partnership’ by IMANI Ghana. Mr Ahomka-Lindsey emphasised the need for government to conduct a consistent dialogue in order to check whether the economy is on the right path.
He noted that, this can change the dynamics of the market and in achieving such a status; there must be assessment of policies and constructive dialogue among government, private sector and Civil Society Organization (CSOs).
According to IMANI Ghana’s report, the country has failed to leverage its trading relationship with the European Union (EU) and ECOWAS – over the past decade, thereby affecting its balance of trade.
The report indicates that from 2006 Ghana’s exports to the EU grew considerably from €1.12 billion to maximum of €3.48billion in 2012. Since then, the country’s exports have declined to the record of €2.29billion in 2016.
This trend is similar for imports, as Ghana has also maintained a negative trade balance with the EU, except in 2011 – the same year Ghana started to export crude oil – when it had a trade surplus of €555million.
Ivory Coast was able to maintain a trade surplus throughout the eleven-year period. Its average trade surplus was US$806million against Ghana’s average trade deficit of US$557million.
By: Latifa Carlos & Diana Nartey
