40 per cent of start-up businesses in Ghana do not make profit

Ejisu (Ash), Aug. 10, GNA â€" About 40 per cent of start-up businesses in Ghana do not make a profit at all, Mr. Sherif Ghali, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs, has noted.

Majority of them also lack access to finance, market, infrastructural and innovation support, as well as the skills development required to sustain these entities, he stated.

Mr Ghali, giving a scenario of Ghana’s start-up ecosystem, at a validation workshop at Akyawkrom in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region, advocated proactive measures to improve on the situation.

The time was ripe to create suitable interventions to address the structural needs of start-ups and the start-up ecosystem, he advocated, adding that this would provide an enabling business environment for entrepreneurship.

The workshop was to allow stakeholders to discuss the Ghana Start-up Bill, which when passed into law, would provide legal backing for the introduction and promotion of start-ups for jobs and wealth.

Its ultimate aim is to boost entrepreneurship and job creation in the country.
The programme was organized under the auspices of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs, Ghana Start-up Network, and the SNV Netherlands Development Organization, Ghana.

It formed part of the ‘GrEEn’ Project, which has the objective of creating greater economic and employment opportunities for the youth, women and returning migrants by promoting sustainable green businesses.

‘GrEEn’ is being implemented under the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa.
Mr Ghali, who is a member of the Technical Working Committee on the Ghana Start-up Bill, said when passed into law, the initiative would help to advance creativity, innovation and the use of new technologies in achieving a strong added value and competitiveness within the start-up ecosystem.

Therefore, stakeholders ought to take keen interest in the ongoing regional validation workshops to help shape the Bill for the better before being passed into law.

Mr Frederick Acquah, Business Development Advisor, SNV ‘GrEEn’ Project, said the project was happy to be associated with the ongoing stakeholders’ discussion on the Bill.

This, he said, was in tune with efforts to empower household businesses to inject creativity and professionalism into their operations to alleviate poverty and also create wealth.

He was optimistic that the Bill when passed into law would assist start-up entities to grow their business to profitable, generate innovative business ideas that would create employment for the people.

GNA

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