The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) is undergoing restructuring to enable it to offer a more effective business development service to Ghanaians, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, has stated.
She said the focus of the Government was to ensure that the private sector thrived through the strengthening of the micro, small and medium enterprises in the interest of the business community.
The minister was speaking in Accra at the launch of a business growth competition dubbed; ‘Lift Your Game’, a campaign initiative by Awesome Ventures Limited, producers of the award-winning television show, M’asem.
The launch is aimed at supporting Ghana’s micro, small and medium sector to grow and to create 100,000 jobs in the next one year.
Ms Tetteh, who lauded the initiative which is under the sponsorship of Business Development (DBS Fund), the World Bank and MTN, called on the youth not to depend only on the Government for employment opportunities since the private sector was an equally fertile area to create their own businesses.
The launch brought together chief executives and entrepreneurs from some leading organizations in the country.
She lauded the M’asem television programme, especially as it exposed the youth to the opportunities that abounded in the country to venture into establishing their own businesses.
The Director-General of the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), Dr Osei Boeh-Ocansey, whose organization is also supporting the initiative, said the private sector was moving away from state control to a market-oriented one, adding that the sector was indispensable, and called on entrepreneurs to use their positions to create wealth because they were catalysts for private sector development.
He said the PEF has working with stakeholders in the small and medium enterprises as well as in marketing and corporate governance in an effort to move away from informal businesses to ensure a sustainable and friendly business environment.
Dr Boeh-Ocansey commended Awesome Ventures for the initiative and pledged his continued support for the project.
The Chief Executive Officer of Awesome Ventures Limited, Mr. Cyril Heymann, noted that small businesses were critical to economic development, hence the purpose of the campaign as an entrepreneurial development programme to unleash the potential of small businesses.
He announced that the campaign which was running now till the end of this year would “envelope in the nation the spirit of entrepreneurship” and attributed the failure of most businesses to a lack of capital.
Meanwhile, Awesome Ventures Limited has launched an entrepreneurship growth and development programme, which began with a seminar for about 500 participants who are already managing their own businesses in Ghana.
It was aimed at showcasing, among other things, the best Ghanaian entrepreneurship talent to a wider audience.
By:Daily Graphic [Wednesday, August 26, 2009]
