Ghana need strong entrepreneurs- Ms. Cobbah

The Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Communications Africa (Stratcomm Africa), Ms. Esther A.N Cobbah, has stressed the need to build a culture of entrepreneurs in the country.

According to her, Ghana stands tall on the African continent in receiving attention as the driver of global economic growth and full of potentials which the country must explore to build a strong entrepreneurship drive.

Ms Cobbah was speaking in Accra, during the media launch of Stratcomm Africa’s “Our Story, Yours Story” initiative , which is a campaign to offer platform to share “Made in Ghana” success stories to inspire a new generation Ghanaian entrepreneurs on the world stage.

She said the country must strive to be a nation in which entrepreneurship is respected and emulated, stressing that, deepening the culture of entrepreneurship, was the surest way of heading towards the upper middle income status as a country.

Ms. Cobbah maintained that experience the world over, teaches that creativity and determination of entrepreneurs were critical for bringing about improvements to the livelihood of society.

She, therefore, urged Ghanaians especially the youth, to strive entrepreneurship and start developing their own businesses on a small scale and nurture it to grow in future.

Ms. Cobbah explained that “Our Story, Your Story” initiative is a programme to showcase the humble beginnings of success stories of Ghanaian entrepreneurs as a means of encouraging a spirit of enterprise in the country.

“We know that many successful business people in Ghana would like to keep a low profile and arc often uncomfortable about public attention being drawn to them. Sadly, one of the reasons for this attitude is a far that they can become targets of a pull-him down attitude,” she said.

Ms Cobbah, however, hoped that as the stories of entrepreneurs become known in the country, they would earn respect for their efforts and the younger generation would aspire to be like them.

“Over the past several months, we have spoken to and collated stories of a number of Ghanaian entrepreneurs at different levels of growth. We have, at this point, focused on their background and their initial steps in business. Going forward, we shall build on these stories by sharing how they have sustained their business through thick and thin,” she disclosed.

Ms Cobbah said all these success stories would be published in print, electronic and online media, adding that, some public and private media houses had also agreed to publish the success stories.

According to her, the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS0 has expressed delight in “Our Story, Your Story” initiative and would be collaborating with Stratcomm Africa to turn the stories into case studies to be used in the teaching of entrepreneurship at the school.

Mr James Assare-Adjei, president of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), lauded Stratcomm Africa for the initiative and pledged the commitment of AGI towards the programme.

He said many entrepreneurs in the country had survived despite the numerous challenges facing business owners in the country and urged the youth not to fear being entrepreneurs.

The Head of Corporate Affairs at UT Group of Companies, Mr Rami, Baitie, urged the Ghanaian media to promote its own Ghanaian Entrepreneurs rather than foreign entrepreneurs.

He said such a venture would inspire people especially the youth, to venture into creating jobs and reducing the massive unemployment situation in the country.