EDIF Focuses On Agric Sector

By Samuel Boadi

IN ORDER to give attention to the agricultural sector in its activities henceforth, the Export Development & Investment Fund (EDIF) has been renamed the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF).
Minister of Trade & Industry, Hannah Tetteh, who disclosed this Friday in Accra, said the move would enable the agricultural sector to access funds from EDAIF to expand production and agro-processing.
In furtherance of the EDIF Law (Act 582), passed on October 4, 2000 to provide financial resources for the development and promotion of Ghana’s export trade,
EDAIF’s main policy now concentrates on supporting exporters including those in the agricultural sector with funds at concessionary rates to make Ghana’s exports competitive on the international market.
Ms Tetteh therefore called on financial institutions to provide funding for industry players, since Government alone could not shoulder the needs of industry.
“Even though the country has recorded an increase in the number of financial institutions in recent years, the provision of credit to the productive sectors of the economy remains a challenge and it appears that our banks are mainly interested in providing credit to importers and large multinational business enterprises,” she added.
She indicated that her outfit would facilitate dialogue among banks, government and the private sector, especially the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in order to access funds, especially medium-term financing facilities.”
“Diversifying and expanding Ghana’s export base through the promotion of non-traditional exports is critical to achieving middle income status. There is the need for Ghana to be more aggressive in its export development activities, Ms. Tetteh emphasized.
This, she explained, was due to the fact that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African markets offer huge opportunities for Ghanaian producers, hence the need “to work hard to increase our share of exports to this market.”
Government, she noted, will collaborate with countries in the sub-region to remove the barriers that are militating against the export of Ghanaian products to the ECOWAS market.