The Customer Development Director of Unilever Ghana, Mr Kwaku Boateng has painted a picture of hope for year 2010, saying it holds a lot of promise for businesses. He acknowledged 2009 as a challenging year in the company’s business, partly due to the change in government and the credit squeeze resulting from the global financial and economic crisis. However, the CDD says internal and external environmental factors are pointing in the right direction for Unilever’s business prospects for 2010. Mr Boateng alluded to three major economic indicators which, according to him, place businesses in a good position to be productive in 2010. These include increase in forex inflows, high access to credit and reduction in inflation which is needed for good planning. He was speaking at Unilever Ghana’s 2009 Distributors’ Awards event in Kumasi under the theme: ‘Winning at the Market Place’. He observed that high number of return cheques, increased tariffs and high fuel cost increased operational cost for 2009. The Unilever CDD expects a more favorable external environment, especially in the banking sector, saying that the promise of stability with growth in the 2010 Budget should be good news. He added that Ghana’s attainment of oil producer status will be a major structure shift in the country’s economy. It is expected that the earnings from the oil sector will help support the country’s currency, open up more economic activities for Ghanaians and increase government’s revenue. The total effects of all these should result in greater confidence and boost the spending power of consumers, leading to greater growth in our businesses, he observed. The company had earlier held discussions with its partners on strategies to win competition in the market place. Unilever pledged to re-visit its terms of trade to leverage all its resources to deliver optimum results this year. It has also resolved to work at improving current relationship with its partners, wholesalers and retailers. Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana