Position yourself to take advantage of grants to grow – AG
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has advised businesses to position themselves to take advantage of grants that support the growth of the industry.
“There are so many grants rolled out by government. Put in the right structures such as proper book-keeping, your governance system must work, that is if it is a small board, it must be functional; production system must work; monitor the performance of every employee; pay your taxes right, and have audited account,” Seth Twum Akwaboah, Chief Executive Officer of AGI, said.
He pointed out that most of the SMEs need a lot of work to do in order to up-scale their business.
“When you up-scale, the advantage is that you enjoy the economies of scale and, therefore, your cost is spread over a large unit, you become more competitive price-wise, and you have a good market share.
“There are so many grants you can benefit from, but if you are not prepared, you cannot get the needed support. With AGI, business development activities are very important to us,” he reiterated.
Mr. Akwaboah was speaking at the 19th Annual General Meeting (AGI) which coincided with a workshop for its members in the Western and Central Regions in Takoradi.
It was on the theme: ‘Leveraging Public Private Collaboration to Accelerate Sustainable Industrial Development’.
Mr. Akwaboah further mentioned that AGI will continue to work efficiently to meet the needs of the business community through effective national and international engagement.
Jospeph Garbrah, Chairman of AGI in the Western and Central Regions, noted that currently, the private sector finds it very difficult to operate as cost of materials has become high, and thus affected the cost of doing business.
“Price hikes and shortages have disrupted several industrial productions and severely threatened the survival of most businesses and livelihoods,” he said.
He therefore called on government to collaborate with industry to chart a competitive path in order to build and sustain a greater economy for jobs and shared prosperity.