The Compete Ghana Programme was part of the technical assistance offered to the Ministry of Trade and Industry as part of the Ghana -EU Economic Partnership Agreement.

In recognition of the need for improved competitiveness of Ghana’s exports as well as an expansion of production and supply of goods for export, the Technical Assistance Team of the Compete Ghana Programme has designed and commenced implementation of the EEEP for the EU market.

At a workshop in Accra, Mr Nicolas Gebara, Team Leader of the Technical Assistance Team, Compete Ghana, said the EEEP was an end-to-end programme which provided training and individual handholding assistance to selected private export enterprises.

He said the programme focused primarily on improving the potential of non-traditional product exporters.
“The orientation workshop held in Accra, saw in attendance seventy enterprises, where the participants were first provided an awareness of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and its opportunities for Ghanaian businesses,” he added.

Mr Gebara reiterated that the Compete Ghana programme was an initiative funded by the EU which was designed to maximize opportunities for Ghana’s exports to the EU market.

He said, “as the key implementer of the EPA, the Ministry of Trade and Industry is keen to monitor the implementation of the EPA as well as guide and support the expansion and diversification of Ghanaian exports to EU markets.”

“This means there is a need to increase the drive towards the realisation of the country’s enormous export potential, thereby making the agreement beneficial for the country in the long run,” he added.

Mr Gebara thanked the participants and encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunities created by the EPA and stressed that the programme would be a success when there was an increase in value-added “Made in Ghana” products on the EU market.

Mr Gerald Nyarko-Mensah, Key Expert of the Technical Assistance Team, Compete Ghana, said one of the primary outcomes of the programme was the improvement of competitiveness at firm level, especially through a clusters’ approach.
He said the participants were educated on the essence of EEEP and its associated primary features such as the eligibility criteria needed for an enterprise to apply and be shortlisted, and the modalities to the completion of the application forms.

“In order to create a levelled playing field for all prospective beneficiary selected enterprises, an online application process was set up for enterprises to complete, as an initial step towards the final selection,” he stressed.

Mr Nyarko-Mensah said the EEEP would select up to 40 enterprises for individual handholding and indicated that though preference was for enterprises with products from top priority non-traditional export list.
The candidate companies identified and recommended by the implementation partners included Ghana Export Promoting Authority, Ghana Enterprise Agency, Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Association of Ghana Industries, and the Federation of Association of Ghana Exporters.