Ghana To Source Meat From Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is exploring possibilities of becoming a leading supplier of high-quality meat and meat products to Ghana.

In that regard, the Burkinabe government with the help of the World Bank has organised a business mission to Ghana to hold discussions in the spirit of promoting intra-ECOWAS Sub-regional trade.

Cote d'Ivoire used to be the leading buyer of Burkina Faso's meat but the market plummeted due to the civil war.
Despite the availability of quality meat next door, Ghana imports its entire meat requirements overseas from countries such as New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and Europe,
The delegation comprised sector business executives, government officials and chief directors from three ministries responsible for Animal Resource Development, Agriculture, and Commerce and led by Mr Yacouba Diallo, development specialist of Meat and Meat Products.

The mission met with major importers such as Sotrec, Francopack, Koala and Amaadi Coldstore Limited to discuss and negotiate business.

Burkina Faso is Ghana's leading trade partner in the West African Sub-region, having knocked off Nigeria at a recent check.

The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) co-ordinated the Ghana side of the mission, while Mr Theodore Kofi Markham, International Market Development Consultant, planned and implemented the mission.

At a roundtable meeting to round off the mission, Mr Sal Doe Amegavie, Executive Secretary of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, encouraged the 32 Ghanaian importers of meat and meat products to turn their attention to Burkina Faso for their supplies..

Besides the supply capacity of Ghana's neighbour, Mr Amegavie said their meat would be cheaper and would contribute to deepening the much emphasised intra regional business, which currently hovers around two per cent for the West African sub-region.

The executive secretary of the GNCCI enumerated other advantages as the promotion of regional integration; the fact that Burkina Faso offered a comparative quality advantage over offshore suppliers and that it was much easier for inspection authorities in Ghana to conduct destination inspection at Burkinabe facilities to ensure compliance with Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary requirements.

On how to resolve potential bottlenecks to transportation, Mr Amegavie gave the assurance that the issues were being handled at the highest level and that they would be resolved soon to pave the way for a smooth business between the two countries.

For its part, the Burkinabe delegation also gave the assurance that the country was capable of meeting a substantial proportion of the meat requirements of Ghana, whether live, fresh, dressed, frozen, smoked, canned and sun-dried beef, mutton, chicken and guinea fowl.