Ghana is currently exporting 65,000 metric tonnes of banana per year, Trade and Industry Minister Hanna Tetteh says. In the last five to six years, the country has increased its banana exports from 4000 metric tonnes to 65,000 tonnes per annum.

“Our exports of bananas over the last six years have gone up from 4000 metric tonnes per annum to 65,000 tonnes per annum,” Ms Tetteh said on Metro TV’s programme Good Evening Ghana monitored by ghanabusinessnews.com August 11, 2011.

According to the World Bank’s 2001 estimates, Ghana needs to produce close to 60,000 tonnes of banana a year to make her banana industry sustainable and make an impact on the international market amid stiff competition from Latin America.

This means that the country now exceeds the World Bank’s estimates of not only banana production but also exportation.The Minister noted that 90% of the bananas are exported to the European market, making it competitive with bananas coming from Latin America and other producing countries.

The increase is attributed to the fact that packaging materials, farm inputs, are brought into the country duty-free because they are registered as free zones board enterprises, she said.