The government has reiterated its commitment to improving the livelihood of small and micro business operators, especially among the youth to help minimise unemployment.

Mr Dennis Armah-Frempong, the Agona East District Chief Executive (DCE), said government’s priority was to initiate mentorship for business growth and to provide funding opportunities for businesses in rural and urban communities to reduce poverty.

Mr Armah-Frempong said this in an address at a training workshop for small and micro businesses at Nsaba in the Agona East District of the Central Region.

The workshop was initiated by the Ministry of Business Development in collaboration with the Agona East District Assembly and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovative Programme of the Office of the President.

It was attended by more than 100 participants from the various communities in Agona East.

Discussions focused on bookkeeping, business management, how to source funding to support businesses, managerial and acquisition of entrepreneurial skills.

Mr Armah-Frempong said to achieve President Akufo-Addo the vision, various interventions were fashioned out to create jobs and to provide the enabling environment for existing small and micro-businesses to grow.

It is in this light that the programme was organized for the 100 business entrepreneurs from the District to build their capacity to enhance business and economic growth, the DCE said.

Mr Armah-Frempong said the training came at a time the COVID-19 pandemic was having devastating effects on businesses globally and urged the participants to take the training seriously to benefit from funding from the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation and other business support programmes.

“We are all aware of the enormous support small and micro businesses received from the COVID-19 Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBUSS). Some participants have already started receiving loans from the scheme to improve their businesses,” he said.

Mr Joshua Kwabena Dadzie, Executive Officer of GRITT Business Group and a consultant, said over 50 businesses have received funds from the office of the President to support their businesses after the training workshops, which started some months ago.

He said the GRITT Business Group had given business management skills to small and micro businesses in the 20 Districts of the Central region aimed at providing opportunities to ensure the growth of their businesses and nurture them to attract the needed funding to enhance development.

Mr Dadzie said some business entrepreneurs received startup funds from the President through the GITT Business Group in collaboration with the Ministry of Business Development and National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme to expand their businesses.

He said the government would outline prudent business plans and strategies to help nurture and develop small and micro businesses to become attractive and acceptable to the youth to invest.

Mr Bismark Bimpong, Human Resource Manager of the Agona East District Assembly, said the selected participants include Hairdressers, Dressmakers, Farmers, carpenters and oil palm kennel processors.

He said the Business Advisory Centre (BAC) in the last four years had trained 132 businesses, adding that the training would create an opportunity for existing and new small and micro-businesses to grow.