Help Gov’t Address Commitments in SDGs

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Classic Amodel Ghana Limited (CAGL), Isaac Amoako Mensah has challenged Social entrepreneurship to find what is not working in the society and find solutions to the problems by changing the system.

In his view, it is crucial to spread the solution and persuade entire societies to take new leaps, rather than allowing government alone to shoulder the responsibilities.

According to him, Social entrepreneurship is vital to improve domestic revenue mobilization in order to be able to finance the policies and programs needed to complete the unfinished agenda and address the new commitments embodied in the SDGs.

Mr. Mensah was speaking as a resource person for this year’s Entrepreneurial Seminar on the topic: “The role of social entrepreneurship in reducing graduate unemployment and achieving the sustainable development goals.”

He mentioned that Social entrepreneurs’ roles matter in achieving the 2030 Agenda because there are pressing social problems and need for sustainable social impact.

“They play an important role in employment initiatives as their style of working with governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations to share and exchange experiences and expertise create new innovative solutions that are making a real difference. These reforms work to create inclusive communities and shared responsibility to generate change,” he said.

Mr. Mensah, also an accomplished young Ghanaian entrepreneur said funding the SDGs will total US$5-7 trillion from 2015-2030, and “only a relatively small part of that money will come from public funds,” advising that as entrepreneurs and business networks increase they will be creating avenues for increased opportunities.

In view of this, he called for support for start-ups saying that that will help the sustainability of their businesses.

However, he explained that being an entrepreneur is tough and a risk, one that ends in failure for many young entrepreneurs.

“Yet, some of the biggest startup successes come from the young entrepreneurs.  Owning a startup, in itself, is challenging, having the monetary capacity and knowledge to get a business off the ground is one thing; surviving the fierce competition, volatile economy, as well as the oftentimes changing and unpredictable marketplace is another but those who do succeed will tell you the rewards of entrepreneurship are well worth the obstacles they faced on the road to success.”