The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has presented personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Volta Region branch of the Association of Arts and Craftsmen, Ho.

It also presented similar items to bead makers in New Juabeng in the Eastern Region.

The items included hand sanitiser, face masks, Veronica buckets, liquid soaps, disposable tissues and waste bins.

A media release issued by GEPA said the gesture was to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and to improve hygiene at the various production centres and markets as business activities gradually pick up.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GEPA in-charge of Operations and Finance, Mr Samuel Dentu, said the items represented the authority’s corporate social responsibility to support the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The members of these associations through their trade, engage with a lot of patrons; hence, the need to support them with hygiene materials to protect them against the virus. I hope that the items will go a long way to protect them against the virus,” he said.

The Chairman of the Volta Regional Kente Weavers Association, Mr Robert Dzokoto, who received the items on behalf of the group, commended GEPA for the gesture and said it would help in observing the safety protocols.

He appealed to public-spirited institutions to emulate the example of the authority to go to their aid.

New Juabeng

At New Juabeng, Mr Dentu said the donation was in line with the authority’s mandate to assist industry stakeholders, especially producers, to enable them to sustain their businesses and increase production.

He said similar donations had been made to various handicraft producer associations nationwide since the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease in Ghana.

He said plans were far advanced to officially unveil the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), which was expected to give a significant boost to Ghana’s export volumes.

He explained that the comprehensive document which was put together over a one-year period by industry stakeholders is expected to be launched soon.

“The NEDS is a private-sector-driven approach which presents more opportunities to build capacity of industry players to enable them to take advantage of the African market through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

He said the implementation of NEDS was expected to lead to a quantum leap in export numbers, which would in turn boost Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP).
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New tech

Mr Dentu also called on Arts and Craftsmen to take advantage of new technologies such as the internet, social media marketing and the AfCFTA to do business in emerging markets within the African continent and sell to customers from all over the world.

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) will begin the implementation of the 10-year National Export Development Strategy once it is approved.

The key target of the strategy is to achieve a non-traditional export revenue of at least US$10 billion by the end of the implementation period in 2029.