Business support programmes must be institutionalised

A business management consultant, Ms Aba Quainoo, has called for the institutionalisation of government’s support to businesses through the various programmes designed to encourage and assist businesses to thrive.  
She said apart from lack of knowledge on how to access such support, there was a perception of politicisation of the support which had led to most entrepreneurs declining from accessing some of the packages.
The government has introduced several initiatives, including tax rebates for young entrepreneurs, opportunities in the Planting for Food and Jobs programme and increased to US$50 million the amount allocated to the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan to provide an integrated national support for start-ups and small businesses.
She, therefore, suggested that such support programmes should be formalised such that changes in political power would not affect lending to businesses.
Ms Quainoo, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mels Consulting Limited, said it was important to find a way to erase the perception which was not discussed.
She spoke in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS during the Women in Agribusiness Development Summit organised by the USAID –Financing Agriculture Project (USAID-FinGAP) in Accra.
She explained that although the support from government through the various programmes were laudable, some entrepreneurs were reluctant and scared to take advantage of them for fear of being tagged as affiliates of the government in power and that their businesses would go down when the government was out of power.
“Due to the history and what people have seen to be happening to other businesses that signed on to some government initiatives they are shying away from some of these supports. We must find a way of making the criteria work regardless of one’s political affiliation,” she said.
 “Let us institutionalise it, let the criteria work. People will relax, and it will come to stay when people realise that you can get it on merit. Governments should be able to build on it when they come,” she said.

The agribusiness summit
It was on the theme, ‘Women at the Frontier of Agribusiness Development; Financing and Business Support for Enhanced Food Security,’ and brought together women-led agribusinesses, farmers, processors, business service providers, financial institutions, government and development partners.
It promoted investment opportunities and linked women-led agribusinesses to business advisory service (BAS) providers and financial institutions.
A panel discussion saw female agribusiness experts and operators sharing their knowledge with the women-led agribusinesses on how to secure their chosen ventures.

Challenges
The panellists said farming, unlike other professions, faced a lot of problems. They mentioned lack of data, capital, insufficient managerial and operational skills, and lack of ready market for agric produce.
The CEO of Samba Foods, Ms Leticia Osafo-Addo, said women-owned agribusinesses must be singled out and given structured and targeted support to grow.

"Due to the history and what people have seen to be happening to other businesses that signed on to some government initiatives, they are shying away from some of these initiatives. We must find a way of making the criteria work regardless of one’s political affiliation." 

Empowering women
The Head of Agricultural Services, Nestle Central and West Africa region, Mr Faith Ermis, said women were key contributors to development and so empowering them to have reliable livelihoods helped to ensure long-term sustainable development that transformed communities.
He added that Nestle had provided 600 women cooperatives with high-yield disease-resistant cocoa seedlings and the technical assistance necessary to set up a nursery. 
“Empowering women, particularly women farmers, to participate fully in society and the economy across the value chain is how Nestle is committed to addressing the issue,” he said.

Key Note
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- The USAID–Financing Agriculture Project, is a five-year project (2013-2018) with the goal of goal to facilitate finance and investment in the maize, rice and soy supply value chains in the northern part of Ghana has to date facilitated a financing gap of about US$150 million to 2,500 small, medium in facilitating finance and investment in the maize, rice and soy supply and value chains in Northern Ghana large enterprises (SMiLEs) out of which 1000 are female-led.