The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, on Tuesday, inaugurated the reconstituted governing boards of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and the Ghana National Procurement Company Limited (GNPCL), in Accra.
The 11-member GEA board is chaired by Sylvester Tetteh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro, with members, including the Chief Executive Officers of GEA and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI); Kosi Yankey-Ayeh and Seth Twum-Akwaboah, respectively.
A former Upper East Regional Minister, Dr Alhassan Samari, heads the seven-member GNPCL board whose membership is not limited to the Company’s CEO Dr Edward Ofori-Kuragu, and Charles Hammond, one of the President’s nominees.
At separate oath swearing ceremonies, Mr Kyerematen commended the old boards for their exemplary work and urged the new ones to support the growth of the two state-owned entities and their contribution to Ghana’s socio-economic development, promising the government’s support.
In the case of the GEA, he said, its work with Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) was critical because such ventures were the backbone of the economy, constituting more than 90 per cent of the enterprise in the country.
The minister said MSMEs were at the centre of the national industrial transformation agenda to make the country the manufacturing hub in Africa.
He said COVID-19 had shown that with the disruption in the global supply chain, the country needed to produce many of its necessities in order to survive and would, therefore, count on the GEA to support MSMEs in that direction.
The GEA, Mr Kyerematen said, was expected to lead the country to take the advantage of new economic programmes, including the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Ghana- EU Interim Partnership Agreement and the World Bank’s Ghana Economic Transformation Programme and Ghana Jobs and Skills Programme.
H said GEA needed support as it embarked on its new journey following its transformation from National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).
“I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will bring to bear on this assignment your broad experience and knowledge to advance the work of the agency,” Mr Kyerematen said.
The GNPCL was established in 1976 to help stabilise the prices of essential commodities, but incorporated in 1995, as a limited liability company to import essential commodities like rice and sugar for distribution at affordable prices.
Mr Kyerematen, charged the GNPCL board to support the government’s industrial transformation efforts, by aiding the supply of raw materials from the agricultural industry to manufacturing companies as well as working with National Buffer Stock Company, to assemble commodities around the country at major markets for consumers to patronize.
He also enjoined the company to become the official made-in-Ghana marketing company, especially for 1-District 1-Factory products under the AfCFTA and maintain its original mandate of bringing importing essential commodities.
Both Mr Tetteh and Dr Samari pledged on behalf of their respective boards, to work to advance the development of their entities.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
