About 3,000 young entrepreneurs are in line to receive support to scale up their businesses this year, Minister of Business Development (MoBD), Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal has announced.
The support forms part of the sector ministry’s mandate in creating sustainable jobs to improve livelihoods.
Speaking at the ‘Forty under 40 awards’ held on Friday in Accra, the minister assured the organisers of the programme that his outfit would offer support to 40 entrepreneurs who took part in the awards scheme to build their capacity.
The award, organised by Xodus Communications Limited, seeks to honour and celebrate most influential and accomplished business leaders who were under the age of 40.
It was organised in partnership with MoBD, National Youth Authority (NYA) and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP).
He said for the President’s Ghana Beyond Aid agenda to succeed, there was the need to create local businesses to compete globally.
Dr Awal urged entrepreneurs to create a culture of innovation that could benchmark their products to meet international standards.
“Employ professionals who can bring new ideas on means to improve service delivery and product innovations to make your business compete effectively in the global market,” he said.
For entrepreneurs to strive for success in their various endeavours, the minister charged them to persevere, focus and create a culture of learning to add value to their businesses.
“Government will continue to create micro economic environment to support your business, and I will urge you to support government to build industries to create jobs for our people,” he added.
Dr Awal called on young entrepreneurs to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to expand their businesses to deepen national development strategy.
He also advised women not to shy away from doing business and entreated organisers of the awards to engage them.
Mr Richard Abbey, Event Director of the award scheme, promised his outfit’s readiness to help entrepreneurs to be recognised and excel in their endeavours.
“We believe that putting spotlight on these young achievers will not only help to celebrate them, but will also help them build a strong platform that will give opportunities for the next generation,” he stated.
Mr Abbey indicated that the platform would compel the youth to strive for excellence and would enable them to ‘think outside the box’.
About 46 entrepreneurs were awarded at the night with Ms Rashida Saani Nasamu emerging the winner of the 2019 ‘Forty under 40 Awards’.
BY JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE
