Western Cape trade mission to strengthen ties with Ghana

This will happen through its trade mission visit, CEO Tim Harris said on Tuesday.

 

Wesgro announced on Tuesday that it was committed to strengthening and increasing trade relations with other African countries. This was in line with the country’s vision to increase trade within the continent.

 

A delegation of 25 companies from the province’s services sector and creative industries would be accompanying Wesgro on a trade mission to Accra, Ghana, this week. The trip is scheduled to run from June 23-26.

 

“This mission forms part of our efforts to increase trade between the Western Cape, and the rest of Africa,” said Harris.

 

“Our agency has strong ties with the South Africa-Ghana Chamber of Commerce and they have invited us to take a group of Western Cape companies on a trade mission to explore business opportunities in Ghana.”

 

Ghana is a strategic trade partner for the Western Cape, and South Africa as a whole, as the country is one of the key economies in the West African region, and a gateway to West Africa.

 

Ghana, Harris explained, was one of the priority markets in terms of Wesgro’s West African Trade Corridor Programme. He said that exports to Ghana from the Western Cape had grown from R40 million in 1999 to R606 million in 2013.

 

“This mission will go a long way to strengthen business ties between Ghana and the Western Cape. Ghana is a relatively easy market for Western Cape companies given the fact that English is the language of business, and their political system helps to create stability and predictability,” Harris said.

 

The delegation would meet with the Ghana Investment Centre, the South African Embassy based in Ghana, the Ghanaian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and would also engage in networking sessions with Ghanaian businesses to see what the opportunities were for doing business with Ghana.

 

A member of the Economic Community of West African States, Ghana, which has a strong trade history and a dynamic, growing private sector, providing potential investors with access to about 250 million people within the West African sub-region. -ANA

 

(File Photo: Gallo Images)