Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister for Business Development.
Government, through the Ministry of Business Development, has launched a support programme for startups and small businesses across the country.
The project, dubbed: “Presidential Business Support Programme”, aims at training and funding small scale and startup businesses to grow their capacities and create more jobs.
This year’s edition, which marks the 3rd phase of the programme, will see a total of 26,000 startup and small business owners receiving training in various fields and sectors of the economy.
Of this number, 5,000 businesses will receive financial support after the course.
The support package ranges from GH¢5,000 to GH¢10,000 depending on the nature of participant’s business.
Addressing journalists at the launch of the programme yesterday in Accra, the Minister for Business Development, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, stated that the principal objective of the programme was to “build their resilience, create jobs and make our young people job owners instead of job seekers.”
“Even before the pandemic, startups and small businesses were struggling. The President directed that we train startups and small businesses, grow their capacity, fund them and create jobs,” he noted.
He disclosed that in the first and second phases of the programme, 19,000 startups and young entrepreneurs received training in various fields and “that helped us to create over 19,000 jobs.”
“We expect to create over 50,000 direct and indirect jobs out of this training,” he added.
John Ampontuah Kumah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), on his part, indicated that his outfit sought to train at least 100 small scale and startup business owners in the various districts across the nation, adding that applications would be opened at the district assemblies for young interested entrepreneurs.
He, however, underscored that individuals who applied in the previous phases and could not receive funding would have to go through the same process all over again and receive additional training.
A lot of these people were from the agricultural sector.
“When you take a look at the trends for the past two windows, the higher percentage has been in agriculture and agribusinesses. We also have ICT, commerce and trade, fashion, beverages, media, tourism and all different kinds of sectors also come in to apply.
“We encourage, especially those in the rural areas to also apply. It’s likely we are going to have tailoring, hairdressers, welders and all those with individual skills that want to setup as business enterprises and employ other people. We are seeking to train all of them and empower them to receive funding and access to market,” he stated.
Mr. Kumah appealed to the municipal chief executives and district chief executives to make the process accessible to all interested individuals.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio