Ghana has developed a national e-commerce strategy with support from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and work is underway on an e-commerce policy, President John Dramani Mahama has announced.
This strategy aimed at opening up markets for small and medium enterprises, women-led businesses and young entrepreneurs across the country.
The President made the disclosure on Thursday during his address at the 10th Ghana CEO Summit.
He said the initiative is designed to ensure that a small enterprise anywhere in Ghana can reach a much broader market, not just buyers within its immediate area.
“Trade now transcends physical location,” he told the gathering. “With the right systems in place, a small enterprise anywhere in Ghana can reach a much broader market.”
President Mahama said technology must support Ghana’s economic transformation in practical and inclusive ways, pointing to the benefits for traders who can receive payments securely, small producers who can reach customers beyond their local area, farmers who can access real-time market information, and manufacturers who can improve inventory and quality management.
At the same time, the President said digital transformation must not leave people behind.
He added that skills development, affordability, cybersecurity, consumer protection and public trust are all part of ensuring that technology widens opportunity rather than deepening exclusion.
President Mahama also told the summit that Ghana’s role as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat gives the country an important position in Africa’s future trade policy, but that hosting the secretariat alone will not make Ghanaian businesses competitive.
He said firms need standard certification systems, reliable packaging and logistics, access to financing and dependable markets, and that Made in Ghana must become a mark of quality and reliability in African and global markets, not just a patriotic slogan.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
