UNDP outdoors program for SMEs in Ghana

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the World Trade Centre in Accra has outdoored the African Management Services Company (AMSCO) which aims at assisting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) grow on September 27, 2014.

AMSCO is a pioneer of capacity and skills development within the African SMEs sector and administers the African Training and Management Services (ATMS) project.

The West and Central Africa Regional Manager for AMSCO, Mr Mohammed Ky, said the ATMs of AMSCO was primarily aimed at assisting SMEs in Africa to compete at the global level.

He further stated that the AMSCO delivered four human capital development services to clients, including recruiting services for middle to senior management individuals who were industry experts to be placed in various companies and provide technical assistance for SME partners.

AMSCO also provides capacity building programs aimed at conducting training needs assessments for clients as well as Management Placement Program. It involves sourcing and placing international experts in African companies for a period of three to five years to improve their operational and financial efficiency.

Mr Ky said AMSCO chose its clients carefully as it sought to partner SMEs and large companies that had impressive and proven business track records to provide start-ups since it was not a grant-giving organization.

He said the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was the executing agency of AMSCO’s ATMs project while the African Development Bank (AfDB) had been chosen as the regional cooperating agency.

According to the Regional Manager, AMSCO’s ATMS was funded by a number of committed bilateral and multilateral donors to help cover the costs of management and training services.

He said AMSCO, through its human and intellectual capital, was committed to helping the businesses on the African Continent take full advantage of the opportunities opened to them.

“AMSCO’s mandate is to help African enterprises become globally competitive, profitable and sustainable by providing human capital and skill development services to selected African businesses, particularly SMEs," he said.

He said the ATMS project had helped to reduce poverty, improve accountability and capacity development in Africa as well as helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Ky again said companies that wanted to partner AMSCO must be able to fulfill a number of criteria which were available upon request.

He said AMSCO was available in 22 countries across Africa with the exception of Northern Africa.

Managing Director of World Trade Centre, Mr Emmanuel Doni-Kwame, expressed the Centre’s readiness to collaborate with AMSCO to help SMEs in the country to thrive.

The Chief Executive Officer of African Regent Hotel, Mr John Addo Kuffuor, expressed appreciation to AMSCO for its advice and assistance when he established the hotel10 years ago.

He said the assistance from AMSCO helped African Regent Hotel, which is a wholly owned Ghanaian hotel, to compete based on international standards.