AGI promotes socioeconomic growth by nurturing small and micro enterprises
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is implementing a programme aimed at promoting socio-economic growth in the Volta, Oti Eastern Regions by nurturing small and micro enterprises.
The scheme would ensure industry players are provided with the necessary resources, capacity building, and financial assistance among others to propel their businesses.
The Volta, Oti, and Eastern Regional Chairman, Dela Gadzanku announced this at the 2024 Regional Meeting and MSME Forum held in Hohoe.
He said the initiative is geared towards developing small and micro enterprises into medium and large-scale enterprises.
“So our program is to ensure that we nurture, small and micro enterprises because they have the potential to be very very big medium enterprises. You can transform your entities from small to medium, medium to large enterprises”, he said.
He stressed that when the right modalities are put in place for these small and micro enterprises to develop, it would ameliorate the growth of the local economy, create jobs and wealth.
Mr Gadzanku said that the association is focused on leveraging the potentials of the Volta and Oti Regions to develop the agricultural, tourism, and infrastructure sectors among others.
He disclosed that the AGI has acquired lands for large-scale farming across the country, with the association scouting to identify the potentials of the respective regions to inform what to cultivate.
This he said stems from a vision of promoting agribusiness and value addition across the country.
Mr Gadzanku also indicated that the association is running a program that allows small and micro-enterprise owners to understudy and receive support from medium and large enterprises toward their development.
The Hohoe Municipal Director of Agric, Sandra Ofori said her outfit is implementing several policies aimed at helping citizens engage in farming and value-addition.
She advised participants at the forum to form groups to enable them to access support from international firms seeking to invest in agribusiness.
“We are where with you. So anything that you feel you will need, you can pass by. Sometimes some of the things are even lying down there”, she said.
Officials from the Ghana Standard Board enlightened the participants on their major objective of ensuring products meet the specified standards from Ghanaian and foreign markets.
They were advised to ensure their products meet the specified standard and not hesitate to visit the office for assistance.
Some financial institutions also highlighted products they have, from collateral-free loans – to invest in their business – to mortgages and partnership deals.