Young entrepreneurs welcome new ministry
Ghana Young Entrepreneurs (G.Y.E.), an association of young entrepreneurs, has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for creating the Ministry of Business Development.
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The group said the initiative would ensure that the right environment created for players in the private sector to expand their businesses and contribute to job creation.
Speaking at its first national conference held in Accra yesterday, the Founder of the G.Y.E, Mr Abdulai Sheriff Ghali, called on the designated sector minister, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal to come out with innovative policies to boost local businesses.
Business ministry
President Nana Akufo-Addo has named 36 persons for various ministerial positions, including a Ministry of Business Development, carved out of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
If approved by the vetting committee of Parliament, Mr Awal would be required to lead the way in implementing policies to spur growth in the business sector, as well as tackle challenges that the sector had faced over the years.
Good policies
Towards this direction, Mr Ghali observed that the way forward for the new ministry to live up to its mandate was for it to formulate policies that would ensure access to funding for businesses, while processes involved should be less stressful.
He further noted that motivating the youth to start their own businesses should begin at tertiary institutions where skills in entrepreneurship would be instilled in the students.
“While there is the need to infuse entrepreneurial skills through activism and mentorship sessions, it is equally necessary for investment and funding mobilisation avenues to be made obtainable from government and private sources to support young entrepreneurs,” he said.
Legacy businesses
The Vice Chairman of the West African Young Business Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Forum, Mr Kwame A. A. Opoku, said the best way for businesses to thrive was to pursue investment in legacy ventures.
“If businesses will have to be sustained in the country, we have to begin looking at investments that will be continued by future generations. To do so, we would have to delay instant gratification in order to make right investments,” he added.
Networking
For his part, the CEO of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Seth Twum Akwaboah, urged young prospective entrepreneurs to form partnerships and focus on creating networks to build their business ideas.
He said it was through partnerships that ideas and resources could be pooled to promote the growth of businesses.