Over 400 indigenous businesses have converged on Ho in the Volta Region for this year’s trade and investment fair.
The sixth edition, dubbed the Volta Fair 2023, will serve as a springboard for local businesses to promote their business.
The fair which is being held on the theme “Leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for Economic Development” will be open from November 26 till December 10, 2023.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the trade and Investment fair, the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dr. Humphrey Ayim-Darke professed his outfits’ continuous support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) as they were the seedbeds of industry.
“We consider our SMEs, the seedbeds of industry and we are determined to offer them the right support and policies to strengthen them to grow into giants that would thrive within the AfCFTA community in Africa,” he explained.
Dr Ayim-Darke noted that the AGI possessed the requisite skills and tools to support SMEs in the Volta Region to grow.
He further underscored the need for investments to be spread across the country to create an even distribution of economic growth which will significantly reduce migration drift.
The AGI president urged all stakeholders to actively invest in the Volta region whilst investing in other productive sectors in the country.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa in his remarks stressed the need for Ghana to industrialise to create decent jobs and shore up developments in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8.
“Investing in industrialisation is one of the best ways of supporting the private sector,” he said.
Dr Letsa urged the citizenry to leverage the conducive environment provided by the government to grow their businesses and contribute to the socioeconomic growth of the country.
The Paramount Chief of Battor Traditional Area, Togbe Patamia Dzekley VII, charged all stakeholders to ensure that the targets and goal of the AfCTA were achieved.
He added that the lack of capital especially for the youth remained a nationwide problem hence the need for sustainable solutions to address that.
