Spanish government supports 30 entrepreneurs

Some thirty entrepreneurs and heads of start-ups have successfully completed a five-day ‘Training-the-Trainee’ workshop organised by the Ministry of Business Development in partnership with the Institute of Creation and Development Enterprise, INCYDE.

The training programme funded by the Spanish Government, with a total amount of GHC30 million, is aimed at supporting entrepreneurs to scale up their businesses to meet global standards.

Held under the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP), the training also seeks to empower these selected entrepreneurs and heads of start-ups to train some 2,000 other entrepreneurs across the country at the various NEIP hubs and training centres by the end of the year.

In an interview with the Minister for Business Development, Dr. Mohammed Awal, he noted that the continental free trade agreement is estimated to reach 1.2billon people with over USD$3 trillion spacing per year and “therefore the only way that we can tap into this is to prepare our people to have skills and training to make them develop products that can compete on the international market.”

He said: “the macro-economic indicators are getting very favorable. Inflation is below 10 per cent and borrowing to the private sector has improved from 5.6 per cent last year to 19.8 per cent this year. So, there is favourable environment for businesses. We now need to challenge our entrepreneurs to be innovative. We cannot be producing raw materials only. We need to add value, hence we give them training and support.”

He added that the training workshop serves as a way of reinforcing the existing cooperation between Ghana and Spain as well as the transfer of skills and expertise from Spain to local entrepreneurs in Ghana.

According to him, the President is committed to seeing the entrepreneurial drive of the country grow because he believes that entrepreneurship serves as the backbone of the country’s economic development.

On her part, the Director of Relations, Madam Casanova expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Business Development and the NEIP for the initiative.

She noted that, the aim of the programme is to strengthen and foster the entrepreneurial spirit adding that currently, INCYDE has 140 incubators across the country as part of moves to expand their 20 years of expertise across the world.

Madam Casanova applauded the selected trainers for taking time off their schedules to be trained. She said: “I applaud your commitment and the responsibility you have taken upon yourself to become trainers to other entrepreneurs. This is our first development for Ghana and we want to have a well-prepared workforce for the country.. Keep improving your professional spirit and your professional career.

Since its creation, the Ministry of Business Development through NEIP have trained and supported 1,350 entrepreneurs under the Presidential Pitch initiative where winners that emerged were supported with funding ranging from GHC10,000 to GHC100,000.

In addition, about 20,000 entrepreneurs were trained throughout the country on personal branding, company brand identity, strategic marketing and sales.

Currently, government, under the Ministry of Business Development is supporting 1000 physically challenged women entrepreneurs with GHC2 million to boost their businesses and provide economic empowerment.