Pressure on cedi: 82% of products in supermarkets are imported - Research

The insatiable taste for foreign products by Ghanaians has been summed up in revealing research which shows that 82% of products on the major supermarkets are imported. Conducted by international research and advisory firm, Konfidants, the report shows an even more shocking outcome - only eggs and water had a higher percentage of sale for products made in Ghana. In other words, of the 23 product categories surveyed, 21 of the categories had most of its products imported into the country. For instance, 94% of the beauty and cosmetic products found in eight of the major supermarkets in Accra were all imported. The story was not different for rice. Only 6% of rice sold in these supermarkets was produced in Ghana. This means another 94% of the rice in Ghana’s supermarket was imported. The jaw-dropping revelations in the report come at a time when the cedi is reeling under extreme pressure from other international currencies. The major factor attributed to the increasing depreciation of the cedi has been taste for foreign products imported in the country. The details of the market survey by Konfidants provide a worrying signal to Ghana’s cedi and for the managers of the economy. Managing Partner at Konfidants, Michael Kottoh, said the details of the report show a similar trend in Ghana’s economy. Made in Ghana (MIG) products perform vastly better in the ‘basic/unprocessed goods’ segment than ‘value-added/processed goods’ segment. Although processed goods constitute nine of every 10 goods surveyed, only three out of every 20 of the processed goods across all supermarkets are MIG, while four out of every 10 unprocessed goods are MIG,” the survey indicated. Background The survey was conducted between April and May 2019 and covered eight leading supermarkets in Accra: Shoprite (Accra Mall), Game (Accra Mall), Palace Supermarket (Palace Mall), Koala (Osu), Maxmart (37), CityDia (La), Melcom (North Kaneshie) and Marina Mall Supermarket (Airport). The survey focused on the 23 main product categories chosen based on a preliminary baseline survey that identified product areas in the supermarkets with MIG goods on display. The research is the first in a series of Africa-wide surveys to monitor local content in big supermarkets across the continent. Details According to the report, 56% of the water sold in these markets were MIG whilst 91% of the eggs sold were also MIG. Apart from that, all the products had a higher percentage imported into the country. Even salt and sugar had a higher percentage (51%) imported into the country. The breakdown is as follows;

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