Speakers at the 3rd Graphic Fidelity Breakfast meeting have made a strong case for coordinated policies to support the growth of entrepreneurs in the country.
They agreed that without such push, the country will not be able to achieve any major economic growth.
[contextly_sidebar id=”LUiHXZO67WtSZkaGMaUIACUtv4iwdb3K”]The Minister of State at the Presidency in Charge of Private Sector Development Dr Rashid Pelpuo identified three elements as necessary for entrepreneurship development in Ghana; a reliable and dependable judicial system, a level playing field for competition, and an open trading environment.
According to the Wa Central MP, these will create room for more entrepreneurs to be innovative, grow their businesses and unlock their potential.
His comments come at a time when several businesses and industries are collapsing in the wake of the economic challenges and the erratic power supply.
Collective effort needed to boost indigenous businesses
Speaking at the Graphic Fidelity Breakfast meeting on the theme, “Entrepreneurship development in Ghana,” Rashid Pelpuo noted that the collective effort of the government and entrepreneurs is key in ensuring that the three work to the benefit of indigenous business.
“How do these three forces then manifest themselves? It is in the manifestation of the three factors that I have mentioned that you would see the real working of how the Ghanaian entrepreneur can be supported.”
“It’s may not necessarily be an individual sitting somewhere or some policy maker somewhere in creating situations for them. It has to be an agglomeration of efforts and a combination of market forces that will create the value. It is our expectation as a government that we truly allow the spirit of entrepreneurship to transform our economy to unlock the vast potential of our people and allow competitive forces to prevail.”
Lack of proper address system
For his part, The Chief Executive Officer of UT Group of companies, Prince Kofi Amoabeng who was one of the speakers at the breakfast meeting, wondered how businesses in Ghana could thrive if, after some many years the country cannot boast of a proper address system.
“We have a country where the institutions of state are crippling around us and I always want to go to the basics because some time ago I went to my village Kukrantumi with some investors to go and play golf, not to invest. Looking around the place, they found that there were opportunities. The first question they asked me was what the population of Kukrantumi is. I had to burry my head in shame, I have no clue of how many people are in Kukrantumi or how many people are in the Eastern Region…If we have a country where we don’t have an address system I don’t see how that country can grow. I don’t see how the entrepreneurs can also take advantage of the country’s raw materials and resources.”
Business confidence will worsen if…
Speaking at the same program, the founder and President of Entrepreneurs Foundation (a non –governmental organization), Sam Ato Gaisie, warned that business confidence will worsen if steps are not taken immediately to stabilize micro-economic conditions that are crippling local businesses.
He said: “businesses continue to incur huge foreign exchange loses while industries continue to shrink. With the rising cost of doing business, businesses risk shutting down if the trend persists.”
Sam Ato Gaisie explained that “the present economic conditions are not conducive enough to attract local and foreign investment which could generate much needed employment. I have categorized the following challenges into power crisis, access to credit, cedi depreciation, political and economical inability, high cost of taxation, competition from imported goods and human capital.”
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh & Pearl Akanya Ofori/citifmonline.com/Ghana