Government Urged To Involve SMEs In 1D1F Programme

Professor Abednego Feehi Okoe Amartey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), has urged government to involve small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the implementation of its One District, One Factory (1D1F) flagship programme.

He said the 1D1F programme, which largely fell within the definition of SMEs, would only succeed if the appropriate partnerships were developed.

Prof. Amartey said this at the fourth edition of the annual International Conference on Business Management and Entrepreneurial Development (ICBMED) in Accra, on the theme: 'SME Growth and Sustainable Development: The Role of Strategic Partnership'.

The Conference, which is being organised by UPSA blends the knowledge of practitioners in industry and researchers to develop proactive and result-oriented solutions to the challenges confronting SMEs in Ghana, Africa and beyond.

Prof. Amartey said in an increasingly competitive environment, often characterised by larger firms with access to abundant resources, the ability of SMEs to survive and expand their business hinged on the formulation of appropriate competitive strategies.

He said one such option was participation in strategic partnership, which had become an increasingly popular method of conducting business in local and international markets.

Prof. Amartey said for many small companies, strategic partnership activities were the only means through which they could stay competitive and even survive in the current technologically advanced business world.

The Vice Chancellor said UPSA's aim was to remain relevant to industry and contribute to the development of Ghana, which meant it had to develop programmes that would encourage an entrepreneurial drive.

'In view of that, UPSA is in the process of securing accreditation to run two Master's level programme, namely Master of Arts (MA) Entrepreneurship and Innovation and MA in Tourism and Creative Arts.

He explained that these programmes would be geared towards equipping 'start-up' businesses.

Prof. Amartey said the University was forming partnerships to establish a business incubation centre to train would-be entrepreneurs to start business and to help existing ones to scale up.

Mr Dasmon Alex Akpabli, the Founder and Director of Daasco Group of Companies, noted that the growth of SMEs, though very crucial, was not enough and needed to be accompanied by sustainability.

He said it had been reported that out of every 100 SMEs established, 75 of them failed before three years, and very few of them survived beyond 10 years stating that this was alarming.

Mr Akpabli said a number of factors had been identified to have contributed to the shrinking and collapse of many SMEs in Ghana, key among them being the lack of entrepreneurial capability and neglect of users in value proposition.

He said there was still hope for the future and called on businesses to develop entrepreneurial capability and value proposition from the customers' perspective to ensure sustainability.

The Conference would provide a premier interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, practical challenges and solutions in.

It would also focus on areas of expertise such as finance, accounting, psychology, marketing, information and communication technology, communication, law and public administration.

GNA
By Iddi Yire, GNA