BUSINESS ADVISORY CENTRES PROMOTE SME ACTIVITIES (PAGE 22, JAN 9, 2010)

ELEVEN Business Advisory Centres (BACs) of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) carried out a total of 104 major activities in the Western Region last year to promote, sustain and improve small-scale businesses in the region.
These included 25 management training programmes, 48 technical/community based training programmes, five NVTI certificate programmes, 10 leadership/group dynamics programmes, six stakeholder meetings and nine business orientation seminars.
The programmes benefited 2,636 participants, made up of 1,151 male and 1,485 females.
Also, 1,606 potential and practising entrepreneurs called at the BACs for various forms of advice and counselling in the areas of business registration and finance.
They were made up of 704 males and 902 females.
The period under review also saw trade associations benefiting from the services of the board.
These included the Association of Small Scale Industries (ASSI), Federation of Ghana Jewellers,the Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association in Takoradi, Fish Farmers and the Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians Association at Enchi.
There are 11 Business Advisory Centres in the Western Region which are located at Takoradi, Daboase, Agona Nkwanta, Axim, Half Assini, Tarkwa, Enchi, Asankrangua, Sefwi Wiawso, Bibiani and Juaboso.
There are also plans to establish four additional offices in Ellembelle, Bia, Akontombra and Shama.
A regional team of the NBSSI is going round to monitor and follow-up on activities being implemented in the respective districts.
Concerning interventions provided for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the region for the period between January and September 2009, a total of 832 entrepreneurs have benefited from technical training programmes. Three hundred and forty-one others had been trained in different management training programmes ranging from costing and pricing, marketing, the management of working capital, customer care, among others, with 64 entrepreneurs being sent on study tours.
Also, 118 graduate apprentices were assisted to write their NVTI proficiency examinations, while 195 potential entrepreneurs were given training in entrepreneurship, with 55 enterprises assisted to formalise their businesses with the Registrar General’s Department.
The Western Regional Manager of the NBSSI, Mr John G. Koomson, told the Daily Graphic that the interventions had facilitated in the creation of 350 new businesses and the creation of 541 new jobs, while 276 enterprises had adapted to the use of new technologies.
Touching on projects of the board, he said, it had embarked on the development of a market oriented planning tool for the districts to identify their economic potentials through private and public sector institutions in the districts and develop, as well as distribute district profiles for almost all the districts in the Western Region.
Mr Koomson said the NBSSI was collaborating with Ricerca e Cooperazione (RC) in developing local market linkages in the tourism supply chain and community based tourism in the Ahanta West District and the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region.
He explained that the interventions carried out under this co-operation resulted in 82 practising and potential entrepreneurs being given training on business management skills, while 35 town tourism committee members had training in tourism destination management skills.
Also, he said 28 group leaders received training in leadership and group dynamics, five potential entrepreneurs received technical training in bakery and fruit juice processing, with 11 vegetable farmers having training in farm management and supported with seedlings and farm implements.
Mr Koomson said the NBSSI in collaboration with the Western Regional Co-ordinating Council and the private sector would organise a West Fair in March this year to help the private sector, especially the micro and small enterprises to access new markets and market their products and services.
The National Board for Small Scale Industries is the apex governmental body for the promotion and development of the micro and small enterprises (MSE) sector in the country.
It was established in 1985 by an Act of Parliament of the Third Republic of Ghana (Act 434) 1981, because the Government viewed the sector as having the potential to contribute substantially to reducing the high unemployment rate and contributing to the growth of the economy.
MSEs account for a significant share of economic activity in the country and can play an important role in achieving the development goals for production.
The long-term goal is for the MSEs to maximise their contribution to the country’s economic and social development with respect to production, income distribution and employment, as well as the closer integration of women and the rural areas into the national economy.
In order to create a single dynamic integrated organisation adequately capitalised and capable of responding to the needs of the small-scale enterprises sector, the Government merged the Ghana Enterprises Development Commission (GEDC) and the Cottage Industries Division of the Department of Rural Housing and Cottage Industries with the board.
The board has a vision to create a more entrepreneurial society by fostering the growth of micro and small enterprises, while its mission is to improve the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises by facilitating the provision of development programmes and integrated support services.