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Mrs Delese Mimi A. A. Darko (2nd from left), CEO of FDA, exchanging the document with Mrs Sally Ofori Yeboah (2nd from right), National Director, CAMFED. With them are Ms Yvonne Nkrumah (left), Deputy CEO, in charge of Corporate Service Division and Mr Emmanuel Adjei, Head of Programmes, CAMFED Ghana
Mrs Delese Mimi A. A. Darko (2nd from left), CEO of FDA, exchanging the document with Mrs Sally Ofori Yeboah (2nd from right), National Director, CAMFED. With them are Ms Yvonne Nkrumah (left), Deputy CEO, in charge of Corporate Service Division and Mr Emmanuel Adjei, Head of Programmes, CAMFED Ghana

2 Bodies sign MoU to support female entrepreneurs

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide training and technical support for young female entrepreneurs.

The MoU is to help young women-led businesses and entrepreneurs who are supported by CAMFED to grow their businesses, register their products and fulfil the needed regulatory requirements as mandated by the Public Health Act 851 (2012) through the FDA’s Progressive Licensing Scheme (PLS).

The Chief Executive Officer of the FDA, Mrs Delese Mimi A. A. Darko, who signed on behalf of the authority, said the areas of collaboration would be through the provision of training and technical support, processing applications and granting market authorisation to the clients of CAMFED.

She said: “As a regulator, we are committed to providing training in basic good manufacturing practice (GMP) procedures, labelling requirements and registration procedures to support burgeoning businesses”.

Mrs Darko said over the years, the FDA had continuously demonstrated its commitment to support the government’s industrialisation agenda by introducing several innovations, including the PLS and “A kayayei to entrepreneur” initiative.

The PLS initiative

The PLS initiative, she said, offered targeted businesses a staggered approach to reaching full regulatory compliance, saying, companies were onboard after meeting basic requirements and would be given support to gradually obtain the needed skills to produce high-quality products that could effectively compete with similar imported products on the Ghanaian market and to be competitive in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.

She added that since June 2020, the PLS had licensed 1,034 facilities and products registered primarily in the food and cosmetic industry,had increased from 404 to 1,427.

The goal of the PLS, she said, was to have major grocery shops and supermarkets retailing at least 60 per cent of made- in-Ghana food and cosmetic products.

Kayayei initiative

The kayayei to entrepreneur initiative, she said, targeted female head porters operating in open market spaces and equips them to pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations.

She said the initiative had so far registered 20 products in the areas of cosmetics and household chemical substances.

Mrs Darko said it was the belief of the FDA that through such collaborations, the authority would be able to partner institutions to ensure that women-led businesses and young entrepreneurs were properly trained to adhere to good manufacturing practices.

Youth employment

The National Director of CAMFED Ghana, Mrs Sally Ofori Yeboah, who signed on behalf of CAMFED, said the establishment of a working relationship with the FDA was within the framework of a number of programmes that CAMFED was implementing in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

CAMFED, she said, was currently an implementing partner of the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy which focused on finding solutions to the youth employment challenge and reducing poverty in Africa.

The target of the Young Africa Work strategy, she said, was to enable 30 million young people in Africa, especially women, to secure dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.

She said it was in line with this that CAMFED was collaborating with the FDA to support young women to be able to start and grow businesses, mostly in agriculture and agribusiness, food and nutrition and cosmetics to create employment for themselves and others.

Writer’s email: [email protected]

 

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