The Imani Centre for Policy and Education released new research today on how Ghana can maximise gains from trade agreements with her partners.
“Trade has never been a zero-sum game. All that is required to flourish among nations is simply the basic market principle: a willing seller and a willing buyer, at an agreed price.
There will always be barriers to trade, usually erected by governments. However, these barriers can be negotiated away. Trade is a better way of helping all countries advance prosperity, particularly in the developing world, where currently, lifting millions out of poverty is non-negotiable and certainly cannot be achieved through aid’’ said Franklin Cudjoe, founding president and CEO of IMANI.
An important question after years of implementing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is how trade, particularly export performance, has improved in Ghana over time. All things being equal, the end result of trade policy should be an increase in export performance, a positive balance of payment score and ultimately increased economic growth.
This report highlights the trends and market share of selected export products, and discuss the key challenges they face.
The report further explores the market share of some selected export products - including gold, brazil nuts and cashews. A product destination analysis – an analysis of Ghana’s market share in the major export destinations, and the competition faced in those markets is also conducted.
The report also assesses the extent to which current government initiatives address the challenges and make recommendations that will help Ghana maximise gains from FTAs to help achieve upper-middle income status.
Source: ghanaweb.com
