One hundred entrepreneurs in the Obuasi Municipality have undergone training on the best practices to manage their businesses, become profitable and employ more.
This forms part of the Presidential Business Support Programme (PBSP) being rolled out by the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Program (NEIP) under the Ministry of Business Development.
The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP) was launched in 2017 with a yearly Business Support for Micro, small and medium-size Entrepreneurs to help develop and expand their businesses with a sole aim of sustaining Ghanaian-owned businesses for 100 years and over for it to be profitable and also be able to employ at least two persons throughout the whole year.
This year, the Business Support Program will aid businesses with a loan between GHS5,000 and GHS50,000 per business to be repaid at a reducing balance rate of 10%.
The repayment period is 2 years with a moratorium of three to six months before repayment begins.
According to officials of NEIP, for this money to be disbursed to successful to applicants, they needed to go through rigorous training for a week, after which business pitching will be done and successful applicants will be selected.
However, because of the COVID-19 this year, the training which was supposed to be done in March and April was rescheduled to June and July with a one day (2/3-hour period) and observing all social distancing protocols.
Initially, it was opened to the general public where everything was done online, but the government has decided to include the MMDAs this time around.
Emmanuel Asante Okoto, a Consultant of NEIP and the CEO of Kumasi City Incubation Hub explained the rationale behind the training program.
He said, this year, the NEIP is training 100 applicants (idea businesses, start-up or existing businesses) from all 260 MMDAs.
He revealed that from 2017 to 2019 they have trained 19,000 applicants and supported 4350 businesses with loans to help expand their businesses. It is expected to help entrepreneurs desirous of creating jobs for others.
Mr. Asante Okoto minced no words in stating that, the only criteria for selecting those who will benefit from the loan facility will be businesses that have the capacity to employ more people and have the potentials to stand the test of time.
On his part the Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah said the program clearly defines the NPP Government’s agenda of helping local businesses to thrive and also create jobs for the people.
“This training workshop will provide an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to be equipped with the knowledge to stand in a better position to expand their businesses and employ more people. I am particularly happy it has been extended to the District level.”
The 100 people were selected from the 19 Electoral Areas in the Obuasi Municipality.
