Accra, 16 October 2024 -  The final ceremony of the ‘’West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP Ghana)’’ was held in Accra, Ghana. The event celebrated the project’s impact on enhancing the competitiveness and export capacity of more than 48,000 Ghanaian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), including over 31,000 women-owned businesses.

Part of a broader partnership initiative between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU), in Ghana WACOMP has been implemented by UNIDO in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) and funded by the EU with a total budget of 6,350,000 EURO for five years.

The project improved the production, quality compliance, competitiveness, and market access of SMEs in the cosmetics, personal care, cassava, and fruit value chains using the unique UNIDO’s 5 Cs approach for competitiveness: coordinate, compete, conform, connect, and credit. Moreover, the project has led to the development and promotion of 16 new standards to enhance the quality and consumer protection of cosmetics and personal care cassava products both in and outside Ghana.

Through the provision of technical capacity-building activities in areas such as e-commerce, measurement uncertainty, standards digitization, and accreditation processes, the project empowered SMEs to adapt to a fast-changing reality and newly introduced market regulations in the EU and the US mainly. The project interventions included promoting dialogue and synergies within value chains, developing competitive manufacturing capabilities by upgrading SMEs through clusters, and supporting Quality Infrastructure to ensure compliance with market requirements. Additionally, the project promoted efficient market connectivity by strengthening marketing capacities and linked SMEs to financial institutions to access appropriate and affordable credit schemes.

The final ceremony was attended by more than 100 participants including beneficiaries, stakeholders, and representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), and the European Union Delegation (EUD) in Ghana. Testimonials from project stakeholders and beneficiaries highlighted the high impact of the project on the targeted value chains as well as on institutions capacities to foster collaboration, provide professional conformity assessment services and facilitating market access.

Ebe Muschialli, UNIDO Project Manager, commended the excellent results achieved through the comprehensive and innovative approach of WACOMP Ghana.

She highlighted that “the impact on Ghanaian SMEs has been tremendous and would not have been possible without the invaluable contribution of all the national partners and the precious support of the Ministry of Industry and the European Union.”

Patrick Yaw Nimo, Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) stated that “the project had helped Ghanaian enterprises to navigate through the challenges they faced to be competitive in the global market”. That, he stressed, “had improved their capacities to produce products that are fit for purpose and in line with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and market requirements”.

Irchad Razaaly, the Ambassador of the European Union to Ghana, concluded:

"WACOMP will forever stand as proof that investment in SMEs, agro-business and private sector development is a win for the local entrepreneurs, for the government and the people of Ghana, as well as for the EU partnership with Ghana.”

The best practices and success stories shared by the beneficiary companies, producers and processors will remain as a source of inspiration for many other SMEs across the country, the ECOWAS region and Africa. They stand as a statement to the potential contribution of UNIDO’s technical cooperation interventions in promoting sustainable industrial development and private sector empowerment.

For more information about the WACOMP Ghana project, please visit: West Africa Competitiveness Programme | WACOMP Ghana.

Final project video with stakeholders’ testimonials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1vK6BetWKU 

For more information, please contact: 

Ebe Muschialli

Industrial Development Officer