In many ways, government policies and principles are important for business start-ups to succeed in any country.
There is no doubt therefore, that, deliberate government regulations make it possible for young businesses, especially start-ups, to exist within environments that are not restrictive to their growth.
It is evident that governments across the globe that support business start-ups, typically develop and implement growth oriented structures that allow such businesses to grow to support economic development.
The stack truth is that, it is easier for start-ups to set off their businesses in environments that do not have burdensome barriers of entry and without steep requirements for their businesses to operate.
These challenging requirements can range from operational taxes and registration processes as well as difficulty in accessing funds to start businesses.
It is against this backdrop that, the Ghanaian Times applauds the Minister of Business Development, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal and John Kumah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), for spearheading implementation of the government’s Presidential Business Support Programme (PBSP) for business start-ups in the country.
Launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2017, the PBSP is aimed at assisting Ghanaian businesses with capacity building, money and funding for young entrepreneurs and start-ups.
So far, the programme is said to have supported 19,000 start-ups under two previous windows and created 90,000 jobs. And launching the third window in Accra on Monday, the Business Development Minister said the achievement of the PBSP was a testament of the need to support the youth to be job creators instead of job seekers since only two per cent of the nearly 250,000 young people who graduate get jobs in the formal sector.
“The rest must find jobs in the private sector hence the president’s commitment to entrepreneurship to train them, equip them, fund them and build capacity so that they can create jobs and employ more people”, he said.
According to Dr Awal, the country was largely a youthful population with three per cent of the young people below 30 years and that the government was determined to use the programme as a resource to enhance national development and create wealth for the people.
What we like about the latest window is that, it has been expanded from 19,000 beneficiaries to 26,000 and GH¢40 million to GH¢50 million to support more businesses.
And to ensure that it covers the whole nation, 100 beneficiaries would be selected from each of 260 districts across the country and given loans ranging from GH¢5,000 to GH¢50, 000 with 10 per cent interest.
It is tough to build a successful business in our part of the world because it is not easy to have access to capital and investment.
Therefore, the government’s offer of soft loans that target small-business and start-ups should serve as an incentive to encourage entrepreneurship and create jobs for the youth.
While commending the government for the initiative we urge the beneficiaries to work hard so that they can make profit and pay back the loans in good time so that many more can benefit from the programme.
