Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has inaugurated a new governing board for the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), urging the members to scale up efforts to increase the country’s export volumes.

She stressed that a stronger export performance is critical to shoring up Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves – a development which will be key in stabilizing the local currency.

At the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday July 23, 2025, the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry noted the strong institutional representation on the board, including stakeholders from the industry, Parliament, and public institutions.

She said this diverse makeup could be strategically leveraged to advance GEPA’s objectives and improve the business environment.

The Minister also commended the Bank of Ghana for extending the repatriation window for export proceeds from 60 to 120 days.

“All we are doing as a Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry is to ensure we are able to boost our exports. Once we boost our exports, the foreign exchange will even improve. Once we do that, there’s a lot of jobs that we can create.

“We also are producing more. Once you get to the point where you are exporting more, it means that you are also producing more for import substitution and so we are not playing with exports.

“I am sure this board has what it takes…at the end of one year, they should be able to account for a stewardship which says that this board was able to steer the affairs of the exports space to the point that now our export volumes are very high. Everybody we need to make export thrive is on this table and so I don’t see any excuse anybody can have,” Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare said.

The newly constituted board is chaired by Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, Member of Parliament for Wa East, who expressed appreciation to President John Mahama for the opportunity to serve.

He indicated the board’s readiness to harness its collective expertise in guiding GEPA’s mandate to expand Ghana’s export base.

“Our pathway has been couched clearly for us and we want to assure that we will work together and take steps to strategically direct GEPA, to strategically advice GEPA, to strategically mobilize the energy within GEPA to be able to achieve the trade facilitation that you are looking for,” he assured the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry.

Other members of the board include Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries Seth Twum-Akwaboah, Peter Nuhu, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) Mark Badu-Aboagye, Ayawaso North MP and Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Yussif Issaka Jajah, Head of Research Department at the Bank of Ghana Dr. Philip Abradu-Otoo, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Simon Madjie, Dr. Mrs. Jessica Aku Nkansah, CEO of GEPA Francis Kojo Kwarteng Arthur, Abu Osuman and Mrs. Joyce Boatemaa Akuamoah.