The Ghana Eximbank, which was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 911 in 2016 to facilitate the transformation of Ghana’s economy into an export-led one, seems to be living up to expectations with the establishment and retooling of 84 companies, which are to produce and export their finished products and also for the domestic market.
The bank, a wholly government owned financial institution and financed by a percentage of taxes imposed on goods and services imported into the country, has the mandate to reduce Ghana’s import bill by not less than $300 million by the end of the year 2022.
It, therefore, wants Ghanaians to eat and use locally produced foods and materials to support the aims and objectives for the establishment of the bank.
Speaking at a meeting with editors of private newspapers in Accra on Friday, last week, the Chief Executive of the bank, Mr Lawrence Agyinsam, said mindful of its mandate, his administration, upon assumption of office in March, 2017, developed strategic plans to help implement its policies.
Among these strategic plans is the increment of our export earnings from $2.5 billion to $5 billion. The wheel to achieving this is the embellishment of export-oriented companies. Individual investors who are interested in the establishment of these companies first submit their proposals to the bank, and after reviewing and establishing its commercial viability, a soft loan, with an interest rate of between 5% and 12%, is granted to the investor.
According to Mr Agyinsam, they are charging low interest rates because their aim is not to make profit, but to help companies mainly into exports to grow. He noted that the commercial banks are charging between interest rates of between 23% and 30%, but they (Eximbank) had shied away from that because they have a specific role to play in the development of the national economy.
Supporting the projects they have promoted so far with a short video clip, Mr Agyinsam told the editors that their focus has been on mainly pharmaceuticals, poultry and the non- traditional export sectors. He argued that if, for instance, the pharmaceutical and poultry industries are well developed, it would help to cut down our import bills, since the country imports a lot of pharmaceutical and poultry products.
He revealed that one of the companies they had sponsored, Caltech Ventures Limited located in the Volta Region, is behind the mass supply of ethanol for the production of hand sanitisers, which has largely helped to cut down importation of the product into the country during this Coronavirus (Covid-19) period.
The Chief Executive Officer further told the journalists that one of their flagship projects is the Ekumfi Fruit and Juice Factory in the Ekumfi District of the Central Region. He noted that the promoters of the project had not contacted them before the sod was cut for the construction of the factory. But when they made an official approach, the documentation was processed in record time, which has now enabled them to start the production of fruit juice.
He also mentioned Juabeng Oil Mills Limited at Juabeng in the Ashanti Region, which was provided with funds from Eximbank to retool its equipment. As a result of this decision, the company is now employing about 2,000 workers, mainly from its catchment areas. Surrounded by his two deputy CEOs – Nana Ama Poku (Banking), Kwame Adu Darkwa (Finance and Administration) – Mr Agyinsam said they had also ventured into the agricultural sector by supporting a number of companies to produce corn to feed the local poultry industry.
According to him, they had done their own calculations and realised that the local poultry products are unable to compete with the imported ones because of the high cost of inputs, especially feed. Therefore, with the granting of soft loans to locally based farming companies, the problem of the high cost of feeds would be tackled and dealt with to promote the poultry industry in the country.
He disclosed that they were in talks with the famous Darko Farms at Akropong near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region to revive the company, which was, until its collapse, employing thousands of Ghanaians. He assured the journalists that very soon, Ghanaians would begin to see the fruits of their (Eximbank) behind the scenes work with Darko Farms to revive the company.
Whilst pleading with all those who have benefited from their support to respect their loan repayment schedules, Mr Agyinsam also charged journalists to help his outfit in educating Ghanaians to consume products being manufactured by these companies they have supported with public funds.
He argued that the reduction of our import substitution bill can never be achieved if Ghanaians still prefer foreign goods to the locally produced ones.
The post Consume locally made products -Eximbank pleads with Ghanaians appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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