Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Robert Ahomka-Lindsey has urged manufacturers to ensure that the country does not come out of the Covid-19 situation still reliant on imported goods, as was the situation before the pandemic begun.

He says it will be unacceptable for the economy to go back as “exporters of raw materials and importers of finished goods.”

“We cannot go forward the way we have to come to today, the module does not work…,” he said on Saturday, July 4, 2020, at the Ghana Manufacturers Awards held at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel, Accra.

Speaking on the theme; ‘Celebrating technology and innovation in the face of Covid 19, the deputy Minister said: “We don’t want to come out of the Covid situation the same way we started, it is simply not acceptable.”

It is for this reason he explained, the government set aside two key funding programmes- one billion cedi Covid-19 fund for micro, small and medium enterprises as well as the three billion cedi fund- to support businesses during the Covid-19 period, to sustain them and save jobs.

“Where we are necessitates us to think differently,” he said, maintaining that no amount of “wonderful policies” instituted by the state will achieve economic sustainability if the economy continues to depend on imports.

He, therefore, admonished the players in the manufacturing value chain to see the Covid-19 situation as an opportunity to limit their reliance on external sources because, “while they are still our friends, they still have their own problems and we also have our own problems”.

The Ghana Manufacturing Awards

The Ghana Manufacturing Awards celebrates innovation in the industry with an ultimate aim of compelling professionals and companies to compete locally and globally. Industrialisation is touted as the way forward for the growth of this country.

Clearly manufacturing contributes a great deal to the GDP, though bedevilled with energy crisis. Some manufacturers have stood the test of time; others have innovated over the years. We want to celebrate outstanding performance in stewardship, health and Safety, Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation in the manufacturing industry.

No matter their size or field, the manufacturing awards team is eager to provide tools, campaigning and support the industry to thrive. We believe in Ghanaian manufacturing and its contribution to the economy and community. We’re here to celebrate and salute achievers in the industry.

The Manufacturing Awards, the annual prestigious awards ceremony, celebrates the very best in manufacturing from all aspects of manufacturing industry, sharing landmark work and developments taking place across so many important areas of science, engineering, innovation and technology.

There are lots of categories within the awards spanning the length, breadth and depth of manufacturing and each of them is judged by a panel of individual independent to the industry, technical committee of impartial experts in different fields.

The awards are entirely inclusive and are open to any individual, company focused on manufacturing, and it cuts across service providers, distributors, financials institutions, insurance, regulators, government agencies and more.

Purpose
To bring together players in the Manufacturing industry and recognize achievements from local and international companies involved in manufacturing sector in Ghana.

To reward those that have played a defining role in moving the industry forward and demonstrated achievement across a wide variety of domains including sustainability, operational excellence, innovation and others.

To identify projects and individual achievements that have enabled manufacturers to set themselves apart from their competitors and produced clear and compelling value, return on investment, and other relevant results.