Date: Tuesday 07th July 2020 @ 10am -12noon GMT
Moderator: Emmanuel Doni-Kwame, Secretary General, ICC Ghana
Panellists Dr Asabea Asare | CEO, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Ghana Ms Valérie Picard | Deputy Director Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation and ICC Paris
Dr Kweku Eshun | Managing Director, KF94 Ghana Mr Morgan Uloko | Managing Director, DHL Ghana
Synopsis
SMEs are the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged the world’s economies. Many SMEs in Ghana which either rely on import for their supplies or export and the domestic economy for the sales have been largely disrupted. The disruptions in their value chains have impacted negatively on the productivity of most SMEs in Ghana. According to the WTO and UNCTAD, international trade has taken a ‘nosedive’ and it is forecasted to fall up to 20% through 2020 with SMEs in developing countries being the worst affected.
In recognizing the importance of international trade in reducing the impact of covid-19, a number of regional economic bodies and institutions including ICC have come up with measures to keep trade flowing. The ICC global initiative ‘Save our SMEs’ for instance gives 10 recommendations for how governments can use trade to help micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) to weather the COVID-19 storm.
Currently, countries including Ghana have begun relaxing their restrictions in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. In view of this, how do we accelerate the growth of businesses of SMEs to pre-COVID levels or near those levels to ensure job creation and productivity? What are the innovative interventions businesses need to adopt to expedite their recovery?
Objectives
The webinar “COVID-19: Strategies to revive Ghana’s business communities for sustainable and resilient growth” organised by ICC and Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation aims to
· Explore challenges faced by Ghanaian business due to Covid-19
· Discuss innovative strategies to address the challenges
- Discuss government measures implemented to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic and to kickstart the economy after the pandemic
· Share international perspectives on supporting business to thrive – including the Alliance approach to make trade simpler, faster and more cost-effective
Audience
The webinar is open, in particular for all business in Ghana.
Contact
Please contact Bright Awuye (bright.awuye@giz.de) and Mary Quaye (mary.quaye@giz.de) for any clarification.
The following documents gives some background for the discussion:
· https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/10-ways-to-use-trade-to-save-our-smes/
· https://www.tradefacilitation.org/global-alliance-publications/
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Important Technical Note
Step 1 Before the meeting :The meeting will be on the virtual Microsoft Teams platform, please download the app on your mobile device before or use your laptop browser.
https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app#desktopAppDownloadregion
Step 2: The link is to access the meeting room on MS Teams this Tuesday 100 am Ghana time: Join Microsoft Teams-Meeting
Advanced Technical Notes
The webinar will be on the virtual communication platform Microsoft Teams.
Please download the mobile app on your phone or your laptop via the following link before the meeting: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/download-app#desktopAppDownloadregion. Below you find explanations of the app interface and instructions how to use it best.
Tips to ensure a smooth meeting:
- It is recommended to join the meeting 5-10 minutes before the meeting starts via the link in the invitation e-mail to make sure you have sufficient time to adjust audio settings.
- We encourage you to turn on your camera, in particular during the discussion section.
- Please mute yourself when not speaking to avoid background noises disturbing the meeting.
A: Interface for computer/browser option:
- Choose whether you want to use your camera and your microphone.
- You can virtually raise your hand so notify the moderator that you would like to raise a question or make a comment
- You can post questions and comments in the chatbox for all others to read
- You find the participants that are currently in the meeting on the right side
- By clicking on the three dots, a menu of further settings opens. The device settings allow you to use a different microphone or speaker
B: Interface for mobile option:
- The camera and microphone options are identical to the browser/computer option.
- If you connect your phone to a speaker or headphone, you can choose here which device to use.
- By clicking on the three dots, a menu of further settings opens.
- On the top of the display, you find the chatbox and the participant list.
Hint: Please note that the settings bar disappears after a few seconds. Touch the display to make it re-appear.