Forest industry players have called for the Government’s intervention in their activities to enable them to operate optimally. They say international conventions and local bureaucracies are militating against their operations.
The players stated that in spite of the challenges, their sector generates €200 million annually and employs 400,000 people.
Addressing Journalists in Accra, Chief Executive Officer of the Forest Industry Association of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asamoah Adam, said government intervention is urgently needed in the areas of rational allocation of forest resources, aggressive expansion afforestation, the training of manpower, local and international trade facilitation, and access to affordable financing regime to enable them to function optimally.
Dr. Asamoah Adam said, “the outbreak of Covid-19 last year affected 60% of their exports but added that the sector is bouncing back though at a slow pace compared to the pre-Covid-19 level.”
He said industry players are determined to operate responsibly to safeguard the country’s forest cover.
As part of effort to operate under one umbrella, the industry players will on next week launch the Forest Industry Association of Ghana (FIAG), to bring together the 15 different groups in the sector.
This, Dr. Asamoah Adam said, “will enable them to strongly push for their challenges to be addressed by their stakeholders. The association will among others provide unified voice in seeking government attention and public sympathy on issues, present a platform for learning from wider experiences, encourage business to business engagement and ensure product quality control.”
The theme for next week’s launch of the association is “Sustainability of the forest and forest trade in Ghana in light of global changes”.
By: Seth Kojo Eyiah.
