Government’s industrialisation agenda is likely to face a number of challenges if issues confronting the cedi is not addressed.

According to the Business Development Manager of B5 Plus Limited, Sandeep Sawlan, the operations of various local manufacturing industries across the country have been gravely impacted by the depreciating cedi against other major foreign currencies.

Speaking to a section of the media at the 2022 Ghana Corporate Brand Awards, Mr. Sawlan bemoaned the significant level of depreciation of the cedi, saying, it is retarding the growth of the sector.

He therefore called for swift action to stabilise the local currency.

“The cedi depreciation is affecting us a lot; you know we export most of our raw materials. We cannot keep changing the price every day”.

“It’s been a great challenge for us changing the prices every now and then. Sometimes, our profit may reduce, but no problem”, he said

He maintained that the increases in taxes and the Russia-Ukraine war is taking a toll on the activities of the sector.

“The prices of some of the raw materials have gone up. So we are now focusing on the production here. Taxes are also high on imported goods and the war has also hit the sector negatively, thereby putting pressure on some of our activities”, he added

Head of Marketing and Strategic Management of Maxim Cosmetic Ghana, Eugene Maquaye said stakeholders within the retail space should embark on various initiatives to sustain the industry.

“Government should bring policies that will protect the local retail space. If there are no policies, you will always see the foreign products dominating our space. The stakeholders should also work assiduously to sustain the sector”, he lamented.

The Ghana Corporate Brand Awards is intended to function as a catalyst in the Ghanaian brand sector, bringing together the most credible leading brands across industries.