National President of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG), Dr Kasser Tee, has advised government to focus on its comparative advantage in the trading of goods and services with its African peers under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
According to Mr Tee, Ghana cannot derive the required benefits of the AfCFTA without first harnessing and marshalling all of its core competencies and comparative advantage in its exports drive around the continent.
Further asserting that, for Ghana to ensure its long-term success under the trade pact, the country must focus on repositioning itself on the best set of its comparative advantage in trading across the region.
“It’s our expectation that Ghana as a corporate brand will be repositioned on its core comparative advantages, this we believe will serve as the strongest signal to prompt businesses to channel their resources into producing goods and services for which Ghana as a collective has a comparative advantage compared to its African peers.”
“We cannot derive the required benefits of AfCFTA without first harnessing and marshalling all of our core competencies has a nation to take advantage in our exports drive around the continent..”
“To ensure long term success, Ghana must first work at repositioning the nation based on the best set of comparative advantages in trade across the region,” Mr Tee stated.
The National President of the CIMG made the above assertions speaking at the media launch of the 32nd edition of the CIMG Annual Performance Award themed; Repositioning Ghana to Leverage AfCFTA for Economic Development.
Speaking further at the media launch on the AfCFTA, Mr Tee averred that the trade pact offers Ghanaian businesses the opportunity to be early birds by reorganizing their efforts on the international marketing front to take advantage of the AfCFTA.
According to him, the trade pact offers local businesses the opportunity to develop into export champions who can compete with other big businesses on the continent to which he referred to as “the giants of Africa.”
Touching on the impact of the awards on corporates in the country, he averred that the awards scheme has contributed to helping corporations in the country re-formulate their corporate strategies and change their business operating models which has enabled them to be marketing oriented by meeting the key requirements of market focus, integrated marketing, long term profitability and customer orientation.
Adding that the CIMG awards has aided in building product and corporate brands as well as personality brands, projecting some onto the international arena where they have competed favourably with global brands.
The CIMG in line with its mission to deepen the interest of the marketing profession and that of its members and to ensure that the Institute impacts positively in the performance of its legitimate role on society and the economy of Ghana and the world at large, initiated the CIMG Annual Marketing Performance Awards scheme which has been in existence since 1989.
The objective of the awards scheme include;
- Creating Awareness: To create awareness for the Marketing Concept and its importance for the success of businesses.
- Promote Professional Standards: To promote high professional standards and to encourage excellence among marketing practitioners.
- Healthy Competition: To ensure an improved quality of products and services being offered by businesses.
