The Ghana Free Zones programme is designed to promote processing and manufacturing of goods through the establishment of export processing zones (EPZs). It is also to encourage the development of commercial and service activities at sea and airport zones.
The Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) was established in August 1995 by an act of Parliament – the Free Zone Act 1995 (Act 504), which enables the establishment of free zones in Ghana to promote economic development. The legislation also provides for the regulation of activities in free zones and related purposes.
The mission of the Ghana Free Zones Authority is to help transform Ghana into the gateway to West Africa. It ensures this by creating an attractive and conducive business environment by providing competitive free zone incentives and operating an efficient “one-stop shop” that seeks to enhance domestic and foreign investment.
Meet Michael Okyere Baafi, CEO of the Ghana Free Zones Authority
Michael Okyere Baafi, the executive secretary of Ghana Free Zones Authority, holds a BEd in psychology and an MBA in marketing and corporate strategy from the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast. He is also in the final stages of completing an MSc degree in risk management and consulting.
He has 15 years’ working experience in strategic marketing, corporate decision-making and customer relationship management at various levels. He displays good transaction and engagement skills, backed up by professional competence and a results-oriented attitude.
Michael is a passionate and aggressive marketer with in-depth knowledge of managing people, consumer marketing, marketing for small and medium-sized enterprises and retail marketing.
ALSO READ: Registrar of Companies decoupled from RGD
A dynamic and proactive professional, he rose from marketing officer to area manager within five years in the highly competitive insurance industry in Ghana. Michael is selfless, compassionate and exceptionally smart, and shows high leadership qualities.
To equip himself with modern trends and make him a consummate professional, he has taken workshops and attended seminars in various disciplines including sales and marketing, presentation skills, claims handling and communication skills, small business management skills, innovation and leadership.
He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and a part-time marketing lecturer at two universities in Ghana.
Okyere Baafi was a member of the trade and industry subcommittee of the 2017 presidential transition team in Ghana, which successfully guided a seamless and smooth transfer of power from the out-going NDC government to an in-coming Akufo-Addo government.
