FDA boss tasks industry to produce quality goods for AfCFTA

Ghana will only be able to tap the opportunities of the single continental market if its producers and manufacturers build healthy and quality brands and products that can survive the test of time and compete strongly in the Africa-wide market, says Delese Mimi Darko, Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

Speaking at the 5th Global

Read full articleBusiness Quality Awards and Conference in Accra, she indicated that quality brands enable producers and manufacturers to not only benefit from the local market, but also opens local goods and services to massive patronage in the AfCFTA and other international markets.

“The government’s agenda to establish more industries and to create job opportunities is yielding positive results. This, coupled with the opportunities that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area presents, sets the stage for businesses to work shoulder-to-shoulder with regulators to engender the culture of quality required for the sustainable growth of the Ghanaian economy,” she said.

“Businesses must remain committed to excellence and seek out collaborators in the journey towards growth. The effects of the global pandemic have been harsh, but it has also created new opportunities and challenges for businesses by forcing us all to innovate,” she added.

According to the FDA boss, promoting quality global brands and business leadership in Ghana is a shared responsibility urging regulators and manufacturers to play their respective roles in ensuring the highest quality of goods are provided for both local and global consumption.

She said her outfit remains committed to ensuring that locally-made products for both domestic and global consumers are produced and marketed at the highest standard and will, for that matter, streamline its regulatory processes and ease roadblocks to ensure quick access to the market for clients whilst safeguarding public health.

“Africa is also fast uniting and very soon we will have harmonized quality standards across the continent making doing business even easier. This has already been accomplished with Africa Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Initiative, one that covers all medical products,” she added.

Mrs. Darko said FDA remains committed to its topmost priority of achieving global excellence in regulation of food and medical products to provide world class service locally for made-in-Ghana products.

The Global Business Quality Awards and Conference is an initiative of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana to recognize and reward makers of top-quality products and goods on the Ghanaian market.

President and Founder of EFG, Sam Ato-Gaisie, in his remarks, said the awards seeks to promote the culture of quality across the local industrial landscape amid the influx of substandard imports that do not offer value for money.

“We seek to encourage both local and foreign businesses that are producing top-quality goods and services to drive the nation’s import substitution agenda. We believe that is one way of reducing the pressure on the Cedi and wastages from imported cheap and fake products on the local market whilst promoting the creation of lasting businesses for job creation,” he indicated.