The Ghana Enterprise Agency has launched a business integrity project to support SMEs to incorporate anti-corruption, compliance, regulatory and integrity activities into their business operations.
The project, dubbed “Pepeye” would adopt a multi-sectoral approach to ensure an inclusive and responsible clean business environment, especially for women entrepreneurs.
The six-month pilot project is in partnership with the Alliance for Integrity and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (GIZ), Germany.
The aim is to strengthen the compliance capacities of SMEs and the supply chain.
Eighty SMEs from the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions will benefit from the “Pepeye” project.
The CEO of GEA, Kosi Yankey Ayeh, says the project will be extended to other regions.
“The whole idea behind this project is to support SMEs owned by women. This is to bring sanity and direction to a lot of businesses. So that we can curtail corruption and increase integrity for the work they do, so they can access more markets and grow their businesses,” she noted.
Business owners, especially women, have been advised to make smart choices by taking full advantage of the digital dispensation.
“The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day celebration “DigitAll: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality” aligned with the objectives of the GEA Business Integrity Project.
GEA understands that digitalization is a part of the anti-corruption crusade which creates a faceless system that helps to reduce discretionary powers, eliminate biases and increase transparency as well as deepens institutional accountability” she said.
The GEA “Pepeye” project application portal is currently open for interested SMEs.