Trade minister commissions business resource centres

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has commissioned two newly constructed state-of-the-art Business Resource Centres (BRCs) at Akropong and Dodowa in the Eastern and Greater Accra regions respectively.

The facilities are expected to boost economic activities in the respective areas by developing the capabilities of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), facilitate access to financial services and credit as well as facilitate access to markets.

This is in addition to the support it will provide ‘One district, One factory’ (1D1F) companies at the district level.

Speaking at the event in Akropong, Mr Hammond noted that the sustainability and competitiveness of 1D1F projects and other MSMEs are the reasons why the BRCs are critical.

<>Industrialization

He said the country is gradually positioning itself as the manufacturing hub for the sub-region with the establishment of factories in 142 districts out of the 261 districts under the government’s flagship 1D1F programme.

He said the BRCs are essential "in the provision of full range of business development services, investment facilitation and information services to potential and existing entrepreneurs as well as business enterprises at the district level."

He said the BRCs were being established under the Rural Enterprises Programme, a Government of Ghana development cooperation programme financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Dodowa

At Dodowa, the Minister told the gathering that the Dodowa centre is one of the newly constructed BRCs out of the second batch of additional 30 BRCs being established throughout the country.

This, therefore, brings the total number of BRCs in Greater Accra to three, with the other two in Ada and Weija.

Mr Hammond reiterated that the BRCs would liaise extensively with, and where necessary accommodate, other business regulatory and financial institutions such as the Registrar Generals’ Department (RGD), Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

The Minister called for a maintenance culture and encouraged the traditional leaders and local authorities to work with the management of the centres to ensure that the maximum benefit is achieved.

In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), Kosi Yankeh-Ayeh, urged the leaders not to see the edifice as just a building, but an avenue that will transform the lives of the residents.

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