The Head of the Economics Division at ISSER Dr. Charles Ackah has said the amount of money that is given to the beneficiaries of the Youth Enterprise Support (YES) fund is woefully inadequate for start-up entrepreneurs.
[contextly_sidebar id=”PUuW9ELKGDSL1bMpRNInmla5eCqm40Bk”]This to him is because the estimated GH¢30,000 per beneficiary will not do much since the cost of acquiring “even a shop at Madina is over GH¢40,000.”
After a year of its set-up by President John Dramani Mahama, the 107 beneficiaries of the fund were given their packages last week.
But in an interview with Citi News, Dr. Ackah insisted that the amount given these entrepreneurs needs to be scaled-up since the cost of doing business will make to close to impossible for these businesses to operate.
Dr. Ackah who spoke on the sidelines of a national dissemination workshop on gender and enterprise development in Ghana stated that the high cost of acquiring stalls or workplaces probably accounts for why over 50% of small and micro enterprises operate from the home a situation, which negatively affect businesses.
He is proposing that the current stall acquisition should be improved to reduce the cost of doing business since “it bites start-ups and entrepreneurs, the most.”
Touching on some highlights on the report Dr. Ackah stated that Ghana does not suffer from a shortage of potential or actual entrepreneurs but to him the reality is that micro and small or medium enterprises are struggling to survive.
The situation he explains is especially dire for female entrepreneurs most of whom are operating from home and having to juggle family responsibilities with running a business.
He also stated that the overall quality of education leaves many, if not most, entrepreneurs ill equipped for operating a private initiative.
Dr. Ackah concluded that despite being widespread, the small-scale private sector in Ghana is not realising its potential for contributing to national development and growth.
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By: Raymond Acquah/citifmonline.com/Ghana