The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has indicated that it can meet local demand for goods, if given a level playing field and allowed to operate within a conducive environment.
The Chief Executive of the association, Seth Twum-Akwaboah said a lot of their members are currently producing enough to meet local demand.
He expressed worry that cheap and inferior goods have been allowed to flood the market through imports.
He refuted accusations that the AGI is being overly protected by government by introducing a Legislative Instrument to restrict the importation of some selected items
According to him, “data on the ground doesn’t support the argument that industries are being lazy and don’t want to play in a very competitive environment”.
Capacity Concerns
He argued that it is important to protect local industries from cheap imports that may kill Ghanaian businesses.
“We have one local industry that is producing so much, but struggle to get market for their goods, because some cheap, and inferior goods have flooded the market and that is affecting them”
“This company now has to resort to exporting so they don’t import” he added.
He maintained that industries will have the capacity to compete with imported goods if the business environment is conducive and fair.
Mr. Twum-Akwaboah affirmed that the AGI is backing government’s decision to restrict the importation some goods to protect their members.
“We believe that there has always got to be the first step in dealing with some of these challenges. Maybe this import restriction is the way to go. I even thought , there is the need for some review”.
Concerns of Farmers about the Policy Measure
Speaking on the same programme , General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union(GAWU) Edward Kareweh noted that he is worried about the real reason behind the policy measure, especially when previous actions by Government has gone a long way to hurt a lot of local industries.
“The Policy Measure in Principle is good, but the way it’s being implemented is wrong” Mr. Kareweh said.
He is of the view that, there should have been some policy programme instituted before the import restrictions were introduced.
Proposed import restriction and impact on African Continental Free Trade Area
Economist, Professor Ebo Turkson pointed out that even though, under the World Trade Organization rules, Ghana may have the room to restrict some items, he is worried about the signal it sends to other African countries and possible retaliation.
“This is because as a country hosting the headquarters of the African Free Trade Area, we should be taking measures that does not send the wrong signal to African countries”, he warned.
He advised government to tread cautiously about the position.
“We don’t want to get into any negative reaction from other African countries”.
However, Mr. Twum-Akwaboah noted that the Ghana Statistical Service Trade Report, showed that majority of Ghana’s imports is coming from one country outside Africa.