1,350 Businesses Benefit From Presidential Business Support Programme
One thousand, three hundred and fifty (1,350)
businesses, from all ten regions of the country, are the first
beneficiaries of the Presidential Business Support Programme, an
initiative of the Akufo-Addo Government.
Each of the 1,350 beneficiaries are to receive, from
the Ministry of Business Development, continuous training and capacity
building, mentorship and business advisory services, free accounting
services, access to business networking opportunities, and, seed capital
ranging from GH¢10,000 to GH¢100,000 each.
Speaking at the event on Tuesday, 7th August, 2018,
at Jubilee House, the seat of the nation’s Presidency, the President of
the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, noted that over the past two
decades, the countries that have made rapid economic strides have been
the ones that have encouraged high levels of investment in entrepreneur
development.
It was, thus, a happy-sad moment for the President
when he learnt that seven thousand (7,000) micro, small and medium sized
businesses applied for support under the Presidential Business Support
Programme.
“Happy, because I was encouraged by the numbers of
young Ghanaians wanting to start their own businesses. And, sad, because
not all of them would be beneficiaries of this programme,” he said.
Nonetheless, all the 7,000 businesses underwent a
well-structured training programme to build their managerial capacities
for their various ventures, with the training programmes conducted in
fifty (50) private incubation hubs across the country.
The successful 1,350 winners, according to President
Akufo-Addo, were competitively selected upon the recommendations of the
private incubation hubs in a transparent, efficient and equitable
manner.
“This, I am confident, will guarantee the success and
sustainability of the businesses, especially as the rate of interest on
the monies advanced has been pegged at 10%, as against the average
prevailing market rate of 26%,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo congratulated the selected
businesses for not giving up but working hard to meet the set criteria,
and urged them to seize the opportunity provided by the Programme, and
demonstrate their entrepreneurial ability.
“To the unsuccessful applicants, I wish them the very
best of luck in their future endeavours. Surely, this is not the end of
the journey. As I have said before, my late beloved mother, Yeboakua,
taught all her children, principally myself, her first born, that if, at
first, you try and don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.’ They will
have another opportunity next year to give it another shot, should they
so wish,” the President added.
With the selected 1,350 businesses receiving training
and support, President Akufo-Addo urged them to “create some thirty
thousand (30,000) direct jobs within the next year, and several
thousands of indirect jobs.”
The President assured the Ghanaian people and the
business community that his government will continue to work towards the
creation of a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive,
stressing that “our macroeconomic indices point to the revitalisation
and growth of the economy.”
With an impressive array of business people poised to
make a difference, the President was confident that “our nation is on
the cusp of a new, bold beginning, which will repudiate the recent
culture of failure. Go out there and make us proud.”
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