Chamber of Agribusiness’s EAT Programme trains 100 SMEs in cross-border trade, focusing on compliance, packaging, finance, and entrepreneurship to boost ECOWAS trade.
About 100 Small & Medium Scale Enterprises across Ghana are set to benefit from the Chamber of Agribusiness’s capacity-building project aimed at enhancing and facilitating cross-border trade.
The capacity programme is aimed at improving the knowledge, skills and technical know-how of SMEs in agri products in order to position them to fully benefit from cross border trade within the ECOWAS region.
The Chamber said this training programme has become necessary due to the challenges these SMEs face in their quest to trade with neighbouring countries in the region.
SMEs engaged in cross-border agri products trade, the Agribusiness Chamber reveals are faced with challenges such as unmatched cross-border market expectations and information leading to difficulties with issues such as demand, quantities, and periods of needs among others.
Deficit knowledge in regulatory and compliance requirements on some agri products is a major bane for SMEs in the cross-border trade leading to confiscations and recall of products. Moreover, issues of currency exchange at border points have also been identified to expose agribusiness traders to adverse impacts such as theft or loss of capital.
Many agribusiness cross-border traders also face standard measurement and packaging challenges in addition to a lack of support services and information outlets.
To fill this gap faced by these SMEs in their business, the Chamber in collaboration with the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade Programme and GIZ has developed the intervention dubbed EAT Programme to support these businesses.
The Chamber said the 100 SMEs to benefit from this capacity enhancement will consider the inclusivity of women, youth, and the disabled.
The Chamber noted that the programme anticipates every SME selected to send “one or more employees in charge of management, business strategy, marketing or sales. The purpose is to equip individuals with entrepreneurial skills, records, book-keeping, regulatory, compliance, and controls.”
The training which is scheduled to take place in two different cities in Ghana will specifically equip participants with skills in branding, packaging, standard measurement and cross-border specifications.
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Additionally, participants would be enhanced with the legal and tax systems of the trade destinations within the region including training in financial technology to deal with the challenges associated with transfer of funds and illegal forex trade.
The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana is optimistic that the training programme, in the end, will help SMEs engaged in cross-border agri products trade understand and appreciate measuring branding and packaging systems acceptable by Ghana and neighbouring countries.
Participants are expected to be abreast with critical entrepreneurial skills which will enable them to better position themselves for easy access to low-cost credit and partnership while understanding the tax requirement of the ECOWAS region among others.
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The EAT Programme which already has some phases and aspects currently under implementation is expected to end in May 2025.
