Ecobank facilitates intra-regional trade

Ecobank Ghana has re-launched its regional trade solutions targetted at facilitating trade in West Africa.

The programme, in collaboration with Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC), was to showcase Ecobank Ghana’s bouquet of regional trade solutions which includes Eco-Collection, Eco-Cheque, Bank Collection and regional trade advisory services.

“The Ecobank Ghana regional trade solutions assure exporters of the receipts from export proceeds in a seamless, fast and secure manner,” Mr. Samuel Ashitey Adjei, Managing Director, Ecobank, told participants at the event in Accra.

“Ecobank has over time developed unique products and services, making it a real catalyst for increased trade flows in the sub-region.

“Ecobank Group is committed to supporting the development of regional trade, and has over the years extended its business frontiers to thirty countries across middle-Africa.

“As a group, we are Africa-centered, Africa-driven and Africa is our strategy. We seek to provide seamless banking products and services aimed at facilitating economic integration within the region, Mr. Adjei stated.

He said: “We are committed to adding value to our clients’ businesses and are convinced that these products and services will provide exporters and importers within our burgeoning economies a simple, cheap, efficient and secure way of making and receiving trade payments across Africa.”

He observed that the growth of intra-regional trade is crucial in promoting economic development in Africa, which is the widely-accepted view.

“It is the widely accepted view that international trade, particularly intra-regional trade, is crucial to promoting economic growth and development, especially in Africa.

“Apart from fostering large-scale capital investments and enhancing economic efficiency, intra-regional trade provides a useful platform for improving competitiveness of national enterprises before exposing them to the rigours of global competition.”

Mr. Adjei said “Despite the importance accorded to intra-regional trade, and the adoption of several regional trade agreements, the total proportion of trade between the regional economic communities remains relatively weak.”

Available statistics have shown that about US$8billion trade settlements in the sub-region mostly go through informal channels. This indicates the existence of a regional financial institution such as Ecobank is the key to facilitation of trade, leading to increased trade flows in the sub-region.

“Importers and exporters within the region who have so far patronized our regional trade solutions are satisfied with the ease and flexibility of operations that these products provides which is in order to make doing business across Africa less cumbersome, he remarked.

Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Agyeman, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC), mentioned that over the last few years, the Council has been developing a market access strategy aimed at aggressively promoting Ghanaian goods and services in the African market - with emphasis on West African trade.

“GEPC is pursuing a number of programmes this year which will promote the competitiveness of growth in inter-regional trade - which has been a major preoccupation of both African countries and regional Economic Communities.

“GEPC is working with a number of agencies to mainstream services-export into a national trade policies and scheme.

“The Council is strategising in this regard to promote Ghanaian services - particularly in the education, medical and construction sectors - to the West Africa sub-region where the skills and expertise of Ghanaian professionals are in high demand,” Mr. Agyeman stressed.