Business development high on gov’t agenda - Minister-designate

Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister-designate for Business Development, has said his ministry will work to help improve the capacity of the private sector to deliver efficiently in Ghana.

Speaking in an interview with the media after his nomination by President Akufo-Addo, Mr. Awal said “the private sector constitutes about 90 percent of businesses in this country so the essence of the office is to help improve the capacity of the private sector to deliver.

According to him, supporting the private sector would make it more productive, efficient, competitive and expand to create jobs and employ the people.

“As you are aware, the unemployment situation in the country is very high, so the Ministry will ensure that we capacitate the private sector, help them to improve and expand the scope of their businesses so they can employ more people. By so doing, we will improve the living conditions of the people and their livelihoods,” he added.

Mr. Awal said the Ministry will achieve its aim by giving the private sector easy access to funding and help them to apply modern business practices and technology.

He said the Ministry will coordinate all the investments coming into the country, adding that “we need investments in manufacturing, ICT, infrastructure and in services to grow the economy and create jobs for the people.

“We are supposed to make sure that we coordinate all the investment programmes of various ministries and direct them to the critically needed sectors of the economy.”

Mr. Awal added that “we have to get a lot of investments to deliver on the one district, one factory that the president promised the good people of Ghana.”

Awal Mohammed Profile

Ibrahim Mohammed Awal is the former Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited and Chase Petroleum.

The 55-year-old is an entrepreneur and a marketer, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Marble Communications Group Limited, publishers of The Finder Group of Newspapers, HMW printers, Marble Consultants and Marble Developers.

Awal, who was adjudged the ‘Marketing Man of the Year 2009,’ holds three master’s degrees in various disciplines from different universities.

He has also undertaken courses in Business Strategy at Havard Business School, USA, and oil production and management at Oxford, UK.

He is currently pursuing a doctorate in Business Administration at the Swiss Business School.

The Minister-designate is also a product of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and married with four children.