Internationalization and enterprise development in Ghana

Economics generally agree that countries that manage their export growth strategies effectively can reap the benefits of employment generation, resource creation, innovation and efficiency. Thus, internationalisation provides developing economies with a promising avenue for growth and poverty alleviation. Paradoxically, internationalisation is, by itself, resource-demanding. Exporting firms must acquire knowledge and critical resources to be able to react swiftly to customer needs in their target export markets and to match their competitors' marketing strategies. Building a vibrant export sector in developing countries such as Ghana therefore requires the design of policies and strategies that optimise the resource leveraging potentials of the country. offshore resource leveraging has been suggested by a number or economists as a viable approach to mitigating the resource deficiency problem in developing countries. This may take the form of inward foreign investments, especially the location of value-adding production facilities by foreign companies in the developing countries. It has been argued that the presence of foreign firms would introduce capital, advanced technology and managerial skills into the developing economies. Through their linkages with local firms, the foreign companies are able to pass on these skills to a large number of other firms and thereby contribute positively to overall competence upgrade in the economies. Economies refer to these impacts as positive externalities or spillovers. Developing country governments have therefore been encouraged to design incentive packages that can attract foreign direct investments in their countries, i.e. attracting foreign firms that are in search of immobile locational advantages such as cheap skilled labour. Offshore resources may also be leveraged through non-equity collaborations with foreign firs located outside the developing economies. Such collaborations may also facilitate