Interview: Association of Ghana Industries (AGI)
Associations play a vital role in representing the interests of their members at an industry and national level. Africa Outlook spoke to Seth Twum-Akwaboah, CEO of AGI, to find out more about this vital organisation.
On Saturday June 28, 1958, a historic meeting of representatives and indigenous owners of small industries in Ghana convened to discuss the difficulties that confronted SMEs in the country. This meeting led to the inception of the Ghana Manufacturers Association.
In 1984 it was decided to expand the Association’s remit to meet the needs of both the manufacturing sector and other sectors, including finance and hospitality. The association became known as Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). In its current incarnation it consists of around 2,000 members made up of SMEs and large-scale industries in fields ranging from construction to IT, advertising to construction. We spoke to Seth Twum-Akwaboah, CEO of AGI, for his take on the association and Ghana’s industry as a whole.
Africa Outlook (AfO): Since inception, how has the AGI developed and progressed in terms of its key objectives and the messages it tries to get across?
Seth Twum-Akwaboah (ST-A): As the leading voice of manufacturing industries in the country, AGI has committed its effort to: advocating policies that advance the growth and development of industries; facilitating international trade through exhibitions of member products in countries across the subregion; strengthening institutional collaboration through the sharing of knowledge, experience, and critical information and creating the platform for networking of contacts, both locally and internationally.