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A deputy minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, has urged Ghanaians to learn from foreign embassies based in Ghana and patronise made in Ghana goods.

Speaking at the Graphic-Fidelity Dialogue series held on the theme, ‘Supporting Ghanaian/Local Entrepreneurs’ at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, Mr Murtala said that patronising locally-made products was crucial to creating employment and drive economic growth in the country.

According to him, all though some local products may not match foreign goods in terms of quality, Ghanaians must be be patriotic enough to buy them so that jobs can be created for young people in the country.

Buttressing his point, Mr Mohammed said foreign embassies in Accra drive cars that are made in their countries and use furniture and other products made in their countries.

He said as part of efforts to promote local textiles, staff of the Trades Ministry had been asked to wear made-in-Ghana clothes everyday every day, instead of the usual Fridays.

Mr Mohammed went on to add that efforts to promote local products had started to bear fruit, with Ghana having achieved self-sufficiency in the production of maize.

He said there had also been a 60 per cent growth in the production of local rice and a 40 per cent drop in the importation of rice.

The Graphic-Fidelity dialogue series was chaired by Mrs Mawuena Trebah, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC), and attended by several dignitaries including Rasid Peluo, Minister of Trade at Presidency in charge of Private Sector development and PPP; Mr Charles Kofi Amoabeng , CEO of UT Bank and President of UT Group; Mr Ato Sam Gaisie, Founder and President of Entrepreneur Foundation.