Mohammed Ibrahim Awal (second right) in a group photograph with the Spanish officials and staff of the Ministry after the signing ceremony
The Kingdom of Spain has pledged to train 2,000 young Ghanaian entrepreneurs to achieve the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ vision.
On Tuesday, Ministry of Business Development signed an agreement worth GH¢30 million with the Chamber Institute for Business Creation and Development of Enterprise (INCYDE) of Spain, in Accra to develop a training programme to support and promote entrepreneurship in Ghana.
From March 2019, the first batch of 2,000 young entrepreneurs would be trained over a period of one year.
The parties seek to boost the participation of young people, workers and unemployed Ghanaians in programmes that contribute to professional development.
It’s also to establish a broad collaboration framework between the Ministry of Business Development and INCYDE Foundation to provide training and consultancy, development and promotion of entrepreneurship and application of technology in consolidating indigenous Ghanaian businesses to be globally competitive.
In line with this, the University of Ghana Business School, is collaborating with the Ministry of Business Development.
Minister of Business Development, Mohammed Awal, who signed the agreement on behalf of Ghana, explained that moving ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ requires that businesses are supported to grow and remain sustainable.
He said that many businesses in Ghana do not survive beyond five years.
Mr. Awal also pointed out that Ghana cannot be moved beyond aid if local businesses and entrepreneurs in the country fail to market their products beyond the shores of Ghana to even countries in the West African sub-region.
“We cannot grow ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ if our businesses cannot go beyond five years.”
According to him, the agreement was aimed at training young entrepreneurs who are confident about moving Ghana beyond aid.
Commenting on the modalities for the selection of beneficiaries, the Minister said that women, who constitute about 52 percent of all trainees, would be given maximum priority.
He also indicated that the programme would be sustained for a long time, adding that the number of trainees might increase to about 50,000.
The beneficiaries, Mr Awal observed, would be mentored on marketing, branding, finance by the Spanish.
Spain’s Ambassador to Ghana, Alicia Rico, said the INCYDE Foundation has been helping to set up businesses and give counseling services to entrepreneurs.
She said the foundation would bring trainers to Ghana to train the entrepreneurs.
Ghana’s Ambassador to Spain, Elizabeth Adjei, pointed out that Ghana’s Mission in Spain has been working to make the programme a success.
She also disclosed that the mission was working to get the Ministry of Tourism to market Ghanaian music in Spain.
By Melvin Tarlue