Government has inaugurated a nine-member Board to steer affairs at the Ghana Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank) with a charge to members to pursue an export-led agenda to help restructure the economy.
Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, Deputy Minister of Finance, who inaugurated the Board, said it must help the government in the realisation of its flagship initiatives, such as the one-district, one-factory programme.
“The government expects the board to come up with prudent policies and programmes that will ensure that exporters are well resourced; be it financing exportable products and services, so that the nation can reap appreciable foreign exchange from the sector,” he said.
He urged the board to focus on non-traditional export products such as poultry, cassava, cashew, oil palm and pharmaceuticals, which had the potential to facilitate the government’s export trade and enhance socio-economic development.
He said while the Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF) had undertaken many interventions in the past to enhance the contribution of SMEs to economic development, these efforts did not adequately address the funding gaps faced by SMEs and the export community.
“These challenges have necessitated the strategic move to establish the EXIM Bank,” he said.
The Ghana EXIM Bank was set up by an Act of Parliament, Act 911, in 2016 to help support and develop directly or indirectly trade between Ghana and other countries and build the country’s capacity and competitiveness on the international marketplace.
Responding, Mr Kwadwo Boateng Gyenfi, Board Chairman, gave the assurance that the team would ensure that the bank’s mandate was carried out.
Mr Gyenfi said the board would explore, maintain and deepen business relationships with other EXIM banks, including the India EXIM Bank, the Africa Export-Import Bank, the China Exim Bank, among other such financial institutions.
The other members of the board are Mr Lawrence Agyinsam, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana EXIM Bank; Mr Ofosu A. Tetteh-Kujorjie, representing the Ministry of Finance; Mr Robert Ahomka-Lindsey, a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, and Dr Johnson P. Asiama, the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana.
The rest are Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Mr Peter Kwame Abebrese and Madam Catherine Quaidoo, both representatives of the President and a Representative of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority.
