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The government has pledged to source from local producers sanitary pads meant for free distribution to female students in basic and high schools.
The intervention is part of a deliberate effort by the government to efficiently use procurement to promote the production and consumption of goods made in Ghana.
The measure is also expected to boost the local manufacturing sector to support the economic development process in ways that can make the country take advantage of opportunities emanating from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for net export.
The Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, gave the assurance in a crunch meeting with members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) at the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry (MoTAI) in Accra.
The AGI delegation was led by its President, Dr Humphrey Kwesi Ayim-Darke, and included the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, and other business executives.
Also at the meeting was the Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Noah Tumfo, and other officials of the ministry.
The government in the 2025 budget allocated GH¢292.4 million to commence the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and high schools.
It intends to distribute free sanitary pads to 1.3 million female students in basic and secondary schools in this year in fulfilment of the promises made in the 120 days social contract by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the run-up to the December 7, 2024 general election.
The intervention is to address menstrual hygiene challenges and reduce absenteeism among female students.
Consequently, the Ministry of Education (MoE) on Wednesday, March 12, this year, advertised for interested individuals and firms to submit a tender for the procurement of the sanitary pads.
The advertisement did not state whether the intervention was reserved for locally produced sanitary pads or not.
Allaying the fears of local industries, Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the government was committed to procuring the sanitary pads from local producers.
“Even though it was not stated in the budget that the sanitary pads will be procured from local producers, I had a meeting with local sanitary pad manufacturers a few days ago, and they were informed to pick the bid forms because all the free sanitary pads will be sourced locally,” she said.
The Trade Minister explained that the government would gradually take keen steps to domesticate the economy by using its purchasing power to promote made-in-Ghana goods.
“So, before even we amend the public procurement law to give made-in-Ghana goods the priority, we are already doing it, making sure that the state buys local products,” she said.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare indicated the goal as helping to increase the capacity of local producers to expand and explore the export market, especially within West Africa and ultimately create more jobs.
Mr Twum-Akwaboah underscored the importance of the government fulfilling its promise to support local manufacturers through procurement, specifically with the sanitary pads intervention.
“AGI’s position is that once we are using the taxpayers' money for such social intervention, we should be sure that it is well targeted at local manufacturers,” he said.
He added that the sanitary pad manufacturers operating in the country had excess capacity to meet the demand.
Mr Twum-Akwaboah said deliberate steps to source the sanitary pads locally would help the manufacturers to enhance their operations, create jobs and support the economy.
The AGI CEO explained that denying local industries' markets would be counterproductive to the government’s proposed 24-Hour Economy initiative.
“We believe that the 24-Hour Economy initiative is driven by demand, so once the demand grows the industries can produce more and the machines will run all the time to create more jobs,” the AGI CEO added.
The national installed manufacturing capacity of sanitary pads range from 600 to 700 million pieces annually, according to data from the AGI.
Although the capacity far exceeds the current annual demand of 400 million pieces, only 67 per cent of it is utilised due to influx of cheap imports.
With the needed support, the sanitary pad manufacturers can employ more people and expand their production to increase exports to generate foreign exchange.
