Press Release
Think Trade, Think Peace – GEXIM Deputy CEO to Ghanaians
On December 7, 2024; Ghanaians will go to the polls in what has been described as one of the most consequential elections of the fourth Republic. The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will be seeking a third consecutive term while the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) will be seeking to return to power with former President John Dramani Mahama.
As part of activities to promote a peaceful, free and fair election, the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) on Tuesday 3rd December 2024 organized a special edition of its popular Small and Medium-sized Enterprise fairs dubbed “Peace Mart”. Over hundred vendors exhibited a variety of innovative, affordable, authentic and quality Made-In-Ghana products and services of very high quality, including food and ingredients, beverages, skin and beauty products, textiles, apparel and garments, leather footwear and slippers and many more.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GEXIM, responsible for Banking, Ms. Rosemary Beryl Archer has urged Ghanaians to be mindful of their activities before, during and after the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections in order to maintain the peace and stability in the country. She indicated that peace is an integral path we can take to bring growth and prosperity to our country.
“If we do not have peace and harmony, achieving political strength, economic stability and cultural growth will be impossible. Peace and order have proven to have a direct positive impact on trade and other forms of business. It is believed that peaceful countries have several great opportunities such as thriving trade relations, increased direct and indirect foreign investments, booming business sector, quality human capital among others. This is because peace facilitates trade and other key economic activities leading to greater financial resources available for various developmental projects”, she emphasized.
Most of the vendors commended the Bank for supporting Ghanaian SMEs in various forms to aid them to scale up and providing numerous opportunities for them by hosting several SME fairs across the country in 2024. In addition, they backed the Bank’s call for a peaceful election, stressing on the importance of peace in creating an enabling environment for businesses and economic development of the country.
Without peace, societies are plagued by conflict, violence and instability, which hinders progress and results in the loss of valuable resources. Conflicts have been a major challenge in Africa in recent decades with a resurgence of armed conflict on the continent from the mid-2000s which has caused immense human suffering as well as substantial economic losses.
(Source: Chris Koney)
