Entrepreneurs need vision and focus - AGI President

By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA
Accra, Sept. 21, GNA - Mr James Asare-Adjei, the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), has urged entrepreneurs to structure their visions properly and focus on developing them to grow their businesses.

'You must have vision and stick to that, since this will help you to identify opportunities and problem around it to make money,' he explained.

Mr Asare-Adjei was speaking at the Enhancing Growth In New Enterprises (ENGINE) scale up IV Awards ceremony, in Accra.

ENGINE is a business plan competition and entrepreneurship development programme to award the most promising 100 entrepreneurs with funds to help them in financing the needs highlighted in their business plans and to refine the business model for them.

It is a four and half year project being implemented by Technoserve, with funding from the UK, and it seeks to equip micro, small and medium enterprise with the necessary skills and resources to improve their business plan and internal operations.

The awards are divided into three tiers; with tier one awardees receiving £6,000, tier two taking £3,000 and tier three awardees receiving an aftercare package.

He said the entrepreneur's personal commitment to work was a key ingredient to business growth and development.

The President of AGI, therefore, called on the awardees to use the power of synergies to improve on their business operations to develop the economy.

He said AGI, as an Association, was dedicated to policy advocacy to advance the growth and development of industries, providing members with a vast network of contacts, especially in the West African Sub-region.

'Always bear in mind that there is always room for improvement because you have a world to conquer so make it happen,' he added.

Mr Samuel Baba Adongo, the Acting Country Director, Technoserve, said tier one and tier two category winners would be receiving an additional 12 months aftercare in the form of mentoring, networking and other business development services.

He said the aftercare would also provide support to firms and foster an environment where start-ups and early stage ventures would network among themselves to share ideas.

He said in the future, the management of the programme wanted to see businesses and ideas that would champion the transformation and impact on the economy.

The Acting Country Director said the programme would also develop a robust system to respond to the particular needs of women participants, adding that, they had noticed the poor culture of record keeping among the SMEs.

Mr Adongo commended the UK Government for supporting entrepreneurial development in the country.

Mr Jim McAlpine, the Head of Department for International Development (DFID,) said SMEs were critical to sustainable economic development in Ghana because they made up about 70 per cent of the private sector in Ghana.

However, he said, the SMEs still faced many challenges such as access to a diverse range of services that enabled them to become more efficient and competitive, building their capacity and reducing unit costs.

He said those challenges were the reason that the UK Government was fully committed to supporting Ghana to create jobs and reduce poverty through support for what was perhaps Ghana's greatest asset, 'the entrepreneurial spirit of its people.'

Mr McAlpine said the DFID saw the ENGINE programme as a critical component in our efforts to help.

GNA