The Fourth West African Trade and Commodity Finance Conference opened in Accra on Tuesday.

The two-day conference is being attended by domestic, regional and international business representatives, involved in the trade and commodity finance sectors, and expected to serve as a key meeting point for expert practitioners to discuss opportunities and challenges Africa holds, including broad coverage of the region's commodities.

Key issues to be discussed at the conference include whether West Africa is still the global "deal hotspot" for traders, the impact West Africa could have on the global economy, the role of government risk on African banks.

In addition, it seeks to provide the ideal setting for peer to peer networking among key decision makers, and facilitate the formation of new businesses.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr. Craig Polkinghorne, Global Head and Director, Structured Trade and Commodity Finance-Standard Bank, said while for every economy there were several opportunities, "all economies have challenges."

He said with trade, it was commendable that Ghana's exports had experienced no interferences, even with change in government.

Mr. Polkinghorne said Ghana and West Africa as a whole held great prospects for trade, adding that what was important was for the various economies to be mindful of their respective challenges to strengthen and maximise their opportunities.

Touching on the future prospects of the Standard Bank in the country, he said, "we are comfortable in Ghana."

The conference is organised by Exporta Group, with funding from Standard Bank, Ecobank and Deutsche Bank.**