MMDAs urged to establish committees to assist Household Enterprises

Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have been encouraged to establish Micro and Small Scale Enterprises Committees in their localities to assist people involved in Household Enterprises (HE) to improve on their trades.

This would enable them acquire the needed knowledge, expertise and how to get the needed financial assistance to ensure growth of their businesses.

Household Enterprises (HE) are businesses engaged in non-farm activities and operated by individuals with assistance from family members such as welding, vulcanizing and tailoring.

The call was made by Ms Aba Amissah Quainoo, Executive Director of MEL Consult in a report presented to the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare at a day's workshop sponsored by the World Bank on the theme: “Raising Productivity and Reducing Risk of Household Enterprises” in Accra on Wednesday.

The report is a research undertaken by MEL Consult, a management and enterprises consultancy, on HEs in the country.

Ms Quainoo expressed concern about the rate at which bye-laws enacted by MMDAs were restricting the locations and operations of people involved in HEs.

She cited the absence of trade associations, inadequate funding for HEs and illiteracy among those involved in HEs as some of the challenges facing the small scale industries in the country.

“Inadequate infrastructure, high rent charges, insecurity at work sites, lack of managerial skills, weak trade associations, especially at the local levels and poor lobbying skills are some of the issues plaguing the HEs in the country.”

Ms Quainoo urged the Ghana Union of Trade Associations (GUTA) to help enforce investment laws and the payment of Value Added Tax among members.

She called on trade associations to affiliate themselves with the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) to make them more visible and their voices heard.

Ms Quainoo noted that operators of HEs were usually confronted with financial challenges because they were usually denied loans by banks and high cost of equipment.

The report indicated that many of those involved in HEs were aware of the existence of National Health Insurance Scheme and had registered with it.

“It is sad to note that most of them are not aware of the SSNIT Informal Sector Fund and their focus was on getting their children to look after them during old age,” it added.