The third edition of the annual Entrepreneurship and Investment Conference has opened in Tamale serving as a platform to promote and showcase the growth of business in northern Ghana.
The annual event, organised by Zaa Radio, a Tamale-based radio station, is also to bridge the investment and entrepreneurship gap between northern Ghana and the rest of the world to address unemployment amongst the people.
A number of companies exhibited their products while public and private institutions will take turns to make presentations about their products and services during the week-long event, which will end on Sunday November 15.
Some of the companies and institutions that have exhibited their products and services include Sekaf Ghana Limted, an indigenous producer of cosmetics using shea butter, Spinal Clinic Limited, Cool World, Ghana Standards Authority amongst others.
Alhaji Muhammad Ibn Umar, Chief Executive Officer of Zaa Radio, whose speech was read on his behalf during the opening of the conference in Tamale on Tuesday, said the conference was to explore factors that would advance entrepreneurship in the north to encourage and facilitate greater growth.
Alhaji Umar said “The opportunities created by today’s global knowledge economy coupled with the unshackling of indigenous enterprise have contributed to making the north a fertile ground for entrepreneurship in areas of agriculture, livestock, food and agro-processing”.
He said northern Ghana was yet to realise its full potential even though it was blessed with enormous trade and investment opportunities, and called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to raise the tempo of entrepreneurship in the region.
He urged government to encourage a “conducive business environment, ensure simplified start-up processes, improve the delivery time, reduce corruption, collate informational needs of start-ups, improve corporate governance norms, create an environment that will reduce risk, and encourage more seed funds and corporate players to provide start-up funding”.
He also called on the Association of Ghana Industries to strengthen mentoring programmes for upcoming entrepreneurs and actively leverage networks with successful entrepreneurs to stimulate entrepreneurship and investment in northern Ghana.
Alhaji Umar also called on the academia to develop “Content, learning methods, examination systems and curricula that encourage critical and lateral thinking, and incorporate case studies of real life situations in school curriculur so that students are able to get a concrete feel of the outside world”.
He urged financial institutions to consider entrepreneurship as a major business opportunity, and explore innovative options such as venture debt and soft loans to encourage entrepreneurial funding.
He also advised entrepreneurs to network with colleagues to encourage sharing of ideas and experiences, and to mentor upcoming entrepreneurs, document failures as much as successes.
Madam Bernice Sakyi, Assistant Sales Officer at Sekaf Ghana Limted, an indigenous producer of cosmetics, urged all to patronise the event to promote investment and entrepreneurship in the region.
