The Ministry of Business Development is allocating 10 million cedis each year, for entrepreneurial initiatives in the Zongo communities in the country. The money which will cover a period of 4-years, beginning next year, is targeted at supporting individuals in all Zongo communities who are into or intend to venture into medium and small scale businesses.
The Minister for Business Development, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, said the support hopes to alleviate poverty in the Zongo communities.
“The Ministry is voting 10 million Ghana cedis each year for the Zongos within Ghana. So, after this training session, those who have business ideas, will submit the business plans which will be vetted by the Ministry and a panel will vet and go through with a certain criterion in identifying the businesses that we think we can support, which will make both national and international impact and we will put them together for this support that will be coming every year for the people of the Zongos”.
Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Safo Kantanka on behalf of the Minister for Business Development, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, made this known in Bolgatanga during a 2-day capacity building training for New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Nasara Coordinators drawn from the Upper East and Upper West region respectively.
The 2-day ‘Zongo Business Initiative’ workshop was under the theme, ‘Empowering Zongo youth for inclusive growth’ and supported by the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation program (NEIP) as well, the Korad Adenauer Stiftung.
Prior to the disbursement of the fund, which kick-starts next year, the sector ministry will organise entrepreneurial support program for selected individuals from the Zongo communities across the country to build their capacity on how to grow business.
Dr. Awal added that the creation of Ministry of Business Development as well as the Ministry of Zongo and Inner-City Development is an indication that the Akufo-Addo led government is an inclusive government which seeks to provide development in all corners of the country.
“The development of social transformation in Ghana will not be limited only to Accra, but, it will include everybody, and everybody in the Zongos including those of us in the Upper East and Upper West regions”, the PRO stated on behalf of Dr. Awal.
The PRO to the Business Development Ministry indicated that, aside the support the ministry is offering the Zongo community, the ministry targets to support persons with disabilities, the youth, women groups, students from both secondary and tertiary institutions in entrepreneurial training “so that they can become their own masters in terms of job creation”.
With the onset of the novel Coronavirus in the country, Dr. Awal said it was expected that some social intervention policies such as NABCO, Free SHS and the improvement of NHIS, under the Akufo-Addo government would have stall. Dr. Awal said, regardless the havoc of the Covid-19 pandemic “all these policies are ongoing and Ghana still enjoys free electricity and free water for a certain category of residents”.
But for all the initiatives to come to fruition, Dr. Awal admonished Ghanaians to vote massively for the Akufo-Addo government to be retained in the December polls.
The Upper East Regional Nasara Coordinator of the NPP, Alhaji Alhasan Siita expressed optimism that the allocation of the 10 million cedis yearly for businesses in the Zongo communities will to alleviate poverty in the Zongo communities.
A beneficiary of the training, Ayishetu Shirazu could not hide her joy that the 10 million cedis yearly support from the Ministry of Business Development would help residents of the Zongo communities in rebranding the products the make to meet local and the international standards.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Joshua Asaah
