Yussif Yakubu
Over 2,000 participants were trained under the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) Business Plan Competition from January 8 to 12, 2017 within the Northern Sector.
The Business Plan competition, organised by NEIP, alongside its Private Sector Implementation Partner (PSIP), African SME Organisation and the Academic Partner, China Europe Internal Business School (CEIBS), was launched on 18th December, 2017 in Accra by Ibrahim Awal, Minister of Business Development.
Seven hundred and fifty participants received training in the Greater Accra Region after which the training was replicated in five other regions in the North.
In Tamale, 452 businesses were trained, while Wa witnessed the training of 97 people, Bolgatanga in the Upper East with 166, Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region with 407 and Kumasi in the Ashanti Region with 1,152 trained.
Yussif Yakubu, programme manager, who opened the seminar in Tamale and delivered the keynote address on behalf of the Minister, stressed the importance of SMEs and their contributions to the development of the country.
He said despite the immense contribution of the sector to the country’s development, many of the SMEs face challenges of which access to capital is a crucial challenge.
A representative of the Regional Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Abdulai, Regional Coordinating Director, who launched the training at Wa underscored the importance of training for young entrepreneurs, existing and non-existing businesses both traditional and Innovation Driven Enterprises to equip them with the required tools to be able to compete with world standards.
In Kumasi, Odei Artta, founder of Artta Junior Footwear, lauded the initiative and thanked the organisers for the vital information to enable them fine-tune their business plans to meet world standards.
Similar stories on the usefulness of the training programme to the building of the right skills were shared by participants in Bolgatanga and Sunyani.
Ellen Darko, an MBA holder and a marketing professional, commended NEIP for the training programme.
Deputy CEO for NEIP, Statsy Ofei-Darko, encouraged the entrepreneurs on the need to take advantage of the initiative to develop their businesses.
“This is a great opportunity to showcase the viable business ideas we have in Ghana.”
The NEIP Business Plan Competition training would continue in the coming weeks in the other regions, including Western, Eastern, Central, Volta and Greater Accra.