The Melcom Group of Companies has launched the third edition of its Made in Ghana campaign christened “Melcom Made in Ghana Festival”.

It is part of its efforts to boost local manufacturing and product sales to reduce foreign exchange expenditure on imports.

The initiative is a developmental platform created by Melcom to showcase successful results of local manufacturers whose products have been certified and could be obtained from any of the 34 branches of the business entity nationwide.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, Mr Godwin Avenorgbo, Director of Communications of Melcom Group said, the Group believes that local manufacturers are producing quality goods and therefore needs support in order to increase their capacity to produce more to meet the needs of both local and export market.

Mr Avenorgbo said the objectives of the project is to reassure Ghanaians that Melcom buys a lot from local manufacturers who are able to meet the standards of the Food and Drugs Authority; and also to draw the attention to Made in Ghana product ranges by creating awareness about the availability of such goods.

The rest are to enable manufacturers of products get firsthand information on their products from those who buy and use them as well bringing to bare a buyer/ seller contact that enables the sharing of product information, which is essential for product acceptance and usage.

The Director of Communications noted that since the first edition in 2013, Melcom has observed a steady rise in companies who have come on board, adding that “by doing so increased the number of locally made products on sale".

Mr Avenorgbo explained that in 2013 the festival registered 35 companies with 250 products; however in 2014 it registered 55 companies with 600 products, whereas in the 2015 it has recorded 80 companies with 1000 products.

“This Festival is in honour of the good people of Ghana; an opportunity to celebrate our manufacturing companies which are adding value to the manufacturing sector,” he said.

Among the companies whose products are on displayed for the 2015 Festival are Nestle Ghana, Unilever, Coca Cola, Twellium, Kasapreko, Gihoc Distilleries, Wilmar, Voltic, Accra Brewery Limited, Guinness Ghana Limited and Fan Milk.

The rest are Frosty bites, Promasidor, Evapak, Nkulenu, Domod Aluminium, Ashfoam, Latex Foam, Qualiplast, Winco, KGM Plastics, J. A. Biney, Gandour Cosmetics, Delta Paper and Parry and Co.