The European Union (EU) in collaboration with the European Business Organization and the African Union has rolled out a platform that would see the agri-business industry in Ghana and neighbouring countries compete with the European market.

At the 1st AU-EU Agri-food Platform launch in Ghana, Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Diana Acconcia said linking the African and European private sectors in the agri-food sector will foster sustainable and inclusive investments in African agriculture and help identify sector-specific barriers to private investment and trade.

The EU is one of Ghana’s major trading partners accounting for more than 10% of Ghana’s total exports. This has been due largely to the fact that Ghanaian exports have unlimited access to the European Union market, leveraging on the economic partnership agreement pact.

The legal framework for the Agri-food sector, policies and regulations, access to credit, effective government intervention, and responsible investments are all potential topics of the Agri-food Platform.

Head of the European Business Organization, Celestino Alvarez-Neira noted that the platform will promote agri-food business-to-business initiatives such as the exchange of best practices, mentoring schemes between companies, as well as give a structure and effective voice to the African agri-business sector comparable to those existing in Europe, where agri-food is one of the most important productive sectors.

The AU-EU Agri-food Platform was initially mentioned in the Business Declaration of the EU Africa Business Forum and the Abidjan Action Plan back in 2017. It was also included in the action agenda endorsed at the third AU-EU Agricultural Ministerial Conference of 21st June, 2019.

Ghana, as an important partner of the EU in West Africa, is the first country to discuss the initiative and put forward proposals for shaping the platform – the first of its kind in West Africa.