The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG), has officially unveiled the Ghana Regional Brand Index (CIMG-RBI Report, 2022). The event, which was recently held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, took a hybrid form, with over a 150 virtual audience from across Ghana and the continent of Africa.

The CIMG-RBI Report, 2022, is the culmination of a well-researched regional brand survey which was conducted last year, involving all 16 regions of Ghana, to unearth and highlight the economic and tourism potentials of each regional brand.

In his welcome address, the National President of the CIMG, Dr Daniel Kasser Tee said, “the aim was, among other things, to complement and reinvigorate government’s original Brand Ghana agenda, and to contribute to giving meaning to Ghana’s “Year of Return” as well as “Beyond The Return” programmes, a homecoming package that aims at attracting Africans in the diaspora to keep patronising Ghana as a home and the ultimate tourism and investment destination.”

Dr Kasser Tee further added that, “the CIMG aims at creating mass awareness about the existence of the 16 regional brands and, later, the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly brands, all classified as sub-brands with distinct and unique potentials for attracting patronage to boost their local economies.”

The key pillars for the study, which formed the criteria for the assessment were carefully selected, after rigorous research and consultations with identified stakeholders. These are measures that are of value to local and international visitors, such as tourists or business travellers.

On his part, the Director of Development Coordination Division at the National Development Planning Commission and Chairman for the occasion, Dr. Winfred Nelson, expressed the commission’s interest in CIMG’s research projects, indicating that “by virtue of its functions, in line with Articles 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution, the National Development Planning Commission works with all stakeholders from government, private sector, professional bodies, and so on. By doing this, we produce key national documents, such as a Medium Development Policy Framework, Medium 10 Development Plans, Long Term Development Policy Frameworks, based on sound data and information”.

He applauded the CIMG for setting the pace and highlighting the strengths of the regional brands through this research. He indicated that “the beginning may not be clear but at the end, it will be beautiful because we are going to use it in our national development planning efforts.” Dr. Nelson announced the commission’s readiness to partner CIMG in all its research projects.

Delivering a message on behalf of the Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration was Ambassador Mrs. Hannah Nyarko, Coordinating Director, Political & Economic. She expressed delight with the launch of the CIMG-RBI report 2022 stating that “one of Ghana's cardinal foreign policy objectives is the promotion and protection of the interest of Ghana abroad.”

Ambassador Mrs. Nyarko further indicated that in furtherance of this objective, Ghana missions abroad and the diplomatic missions abroad promote Ghanaian products: “we promote Ghana as a preferred investment and tourism destination. We look for a market for Ghanaian products. And in so doing, we mostly engage the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, the Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Tourism, and other institutions. We are happy that with this study, we will have a source of reference to use in our work.”

She believes that with the African Continental Free Trade Area now in effect and the secretariat established in Ghana, there is a new era of trade that has commenced. As a result, the role of the CIMG in the activities of various actors has become even more imperative. According to Ambassador Mrs. Nyarko, this is because of “the need to vigorously market products in Ghana that can be exported to other African countries, since the objective of the African Continental Free Trade Area is to promote and enhance intra-African trade.”

“With the plethora of products, we have in Ghana, CIMG, will play a very important role in devising strategies for the packaging and marketing of these products. So, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs very much welcomes this report. And on behalf of the Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs, I would like to assure you of the support of the ministry to work with you in promoting the Regional Brand Index Report abroad and here in Ghana,” she said.

Launching the CIMG-RBI report, 2022 was Prof. Kweku Appiah-Adu, Head of Delivery, Monitoring and Evaluation at the office of the Vice-President. He indicated that he is looking forward to collaborating with CIMG in diverse ways. He indicated that he is impressed with the research and the quality of data gathered, as data is integral to the presidency’s agenda of digitalisation.

According to Prof. Appiah-Adu, “data is the new oil, and if you observe market capitalisation amongst the top performing companies across the world, you will realise that the leading companies are all in digital transformation now. Thus, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and all, which occupy the top ten companies in the world by market capitalisation are all digital. If you take the same search 20 years ago, it was the financial services and the oil companies or the energy and oil and gas companies that were in the top ten.”

He believes that in Ghana's efforts to become digital, data, research findings, and the ability to use the data effectively for decision-making would be the gamechanger. He added that in the case of NDPC, data will play a critical role in resource allocation from the ministry of finance towards budgeting, and ensuring that across Ghana, all the regions receive their appropriate lots to be able to develop their regions or their communities.

The CIMG-RBI Report, 2022, is highly beneficial to the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration, and other government institutions, as CIMG works with stakeholders to market the individual regions to promote internal trade and travels within Ghana. The report also seeks to package these regions as well as Ghana and promote them internationally to attract foreign business and tourism.

Present at the ceremony were representatives from the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana Tourism Authority, and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.