GhanaMade Company Limited, a leading private company that focuses on promoting and marketing locally produced rice and other made in Ghana products, has been presented with a certificate by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) for its role in the promotion of made-in-Ghana products at the recently AGI awards ceremony held in Accra.

The AGI awards are a national event aimed at recognising industries that have distinguished themselves in their respective sectors.

Receiving the certificate, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GhanaMade, Mrs. Comfort Aniagyei, noted that her company is extremely happy to have been recognised by the AGI. “For us as a company, we are delighted to note that our performance over the last five years since our establishment has caught the attention of the AGI. This has really come to us as a pleasant surprise, and I must say that this will further spur us to do a lot more in marketing and promoting made-in-Ghana products,” Mrs. Aniagyei remarked.

Giving a brief background about her company, GhanaMade, the CEO said the company was born to help Ghana achieve total economic emancipation, given that Ghana has attained political emancipation. She continued that in line with ensuring the company’s visions are achieved, she has 15 outlets currently open in two regions -- and quickly added that plans are far advanced to open more in other parts of the country.

According to her, GhanaMade braved the storm when everything Ghanaian was held in low esteem by many of our citizenry; when use of foreign goods and services was the sine qua non for sophistication and accomplishment. She pointed out that her belief in Ghana and the true African compelled her to launch the crusade to re-ignite passion and demand for made in Ghana products.

GhanaMade, she stated, started its work quietly in the rural communities where the company engaged local farmers who still rely mainly on rain-fed agriculture and farming implements that pre-date independence. She explained that these farmers labour to produce rice that is spurned by their own kith and kin in preference for imported rice from the US, Thailand, etc.

“Until the emergence of GhanaMade, these farmers’ most pressing issues were in two folds; micro-financing to pay for production cost, and also lucrative outlets to market their produce. We at GhanaMade over the years have not only made available micro-finance for them to pay their production costs, but have also provided platforms for promotion and marketing of their produce in all the company’s outlets in both the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions,” Mrs. Aniagyei commented.

Speaking about the benefits of promoting made-in-Ghana products, the GhanaMade CEO mentioned that it will help create sustainable jobs for the teeming youth as well as help the country attain national pride; and by so doing the company will have succeeded in achieving its vision of helping Ghana achieve economic emancipation.

She is particularly happy that the company’s brands of locally produced rice, Oman Ba fragrant rice, Red Star, Odeneho Brown and Northern Star Parboiled rice and other made-in-Ghana products have defied all odds and are currently doing well on the market.

The GhanaMade CEO appealed to government to continue fashioning out the implementation processes, which will help Ghana to become industrialised. She congratulated producers of the various locally manufactured products sold in all her company’s outlets and other shops, for braving the odds to come out with the high quality made-in Ghana products which are currently being patronised by a lot of Ghanaians.

“I want to passionately appeal to Ghanaians both home and abroad and other Africans in particular and friends of Africa to continue to continue patronising Ghanaian locally manufactured products, for therein lies the salvaging of Africa,” she stated.

Nana Owusu Afari, president of the AGI, for his part commended GhanaMade for its role in the promotion of local products and added that the certificate presented to the company is a deserved one.

He continued that if today demand and production of local rice and other local products have seen a significant increase and awareness of the need to patronise made-in-Ghana products has become fashionable, and if AGI is making buying made-in-Ghana goods a clarion call, it is thanks to people like Mrs. Aniagyei and GhanaMade who have worked assiduously to make this vision a reality