A consultant on exports, Gerald Nyarko-Mensah, is urging businesses in Ghana to take advantage of the reaching some of the top markets in Africa, building on the immense opportunities presented to the country as a coastal trading hub.

He said, due to Ghana’s location on the map as a coastal country, leveraging on that to reach such countries as those in the northern parts of the continent, would give it a towering business advantage.

He added that with countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, who are giants of trade still being virgin countries for most businesses from Ghana, taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should just be right.

Gerald Nyarko-Mensah was making a presentation on Market Access and Opportunities during a Sensitization Seminar on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on the theme, “AfCFTA: Adopting The Right Business Strategies To Fully Benefit.”

“We have markets all over Africa but the top importers are usually found along the coastline. The reason being that historically, the sea has been the conduit through which trade has taken place mostly in terms of transport. So, not surprising, those countries with coastlines and harbors are usually those that have large trading operations.

“And so Ghana in reaching to Africa could do well to start with the coastal countries because then, we can ship by sea. We all know we have difficult within Africa, traveling by road. And air transport is generally also expensive but sea travel is a good starting point and fortunately, the top exporters in Africa are all situated along the coast. You can see the northern part of Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and so on, they are giants and I think we need to pay much more attention to penetrating markets in those parts of Africa and going by sea,” he said.

The AfCFTA is the largest free trade area by number of participating countries since the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, based on an agreement among 54 African countries.

The event was organized by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce & Industry, sponsored by the Bank of Africa, and supported by GhanaWeb, the Ghana Shippers Authority, among other organizations.