The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) President, Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, has questioned when the importation of basic essential commodities such as rice, poultry, toothpick, tomatoes, sugar, bottled water, ceramic tiles, among other products will come to an end.

According to him, local manufacturers have the capacity to produce these items to meet at least half of the country's demand.

Mr Ayim-Darke stated that sugar was a basic product that could be produced on a large scale.

"For how long are we going to depend on imported rice, imported poultry, imported vegetable cooking oil, imported bottled water, machetes, toothpicks, tomatoes, ceramic tiles, and I can go on and on just to mention a few," he lamented.

The AGI president added that, "Sugar is a basic product and we believe we have the capacity to produce at best half the requirement of our country at the start."

He noted that developing the local supply chain was the best amidst the rollout of a developmental paradigm scheme by countries to gain a significant share of the world trade.

Meanwhile, statistics from the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF) revealed that more than 600,000 tonnes of frozen chicken were imported into the country in 2021.

The data highlighted that approximately US$600million worth of chicken was imported into the country.

Touching on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the AGI President said the move offers Ghana a unique opportunity to scale up its exports.

AfCFTA, which came into effect in January 2021, is the largest free trade area globally, covering 55 African countries with a combined population of 1.3 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding $3.4 trillion.

This will help African economies build robust and more resilient economies to absorb any shock – internally or externally.

Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke was speaking at the Ghana Industrial Summit and Exhibition (GISE) 2023 on Monday, September 18, 2023.

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