NEIP Kickstarts Business Support Programme

The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP), a flagship policy initiative of the government under the Ministry of Business Development, has made its first call for prospective business owners to apply for its Business Support Programme.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NEIP, Mr John Kumah, this step would bring solution to the national youth unemployment challenges that Ghana continues to face.

“This initiative seeks to help start-up businesses and help existing businesses to grow. It is set within the context of Ghana’s long-term strategic vision of consolidating its level of middle income status, building an industry driven economy capable of providing decent jobs that is suitable and sustainable for our country,” he said.

Mr Kumah made this call at the launch of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week (NEIW), in Accra, on Thursday.

He said with a seed fund of $10 million, NEIP is expected to leverage or scale up to raise an additional $100 million through the support of their private sector partners−Africa SME.

Africa SME

Africa SME is NEIP’s Private Sector Implementation Partner (PSIP) and has been working with the NEIP to build a strong entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ghana, after a competitive tender process.

According to Mr. Yaw Asamoah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Africa SME, those who qualify to apply for this business support programme are those who have business ideas that can create jobs and make money; and is open to both traditional and non-traditional businesses.

He said about 2,000 entries are expected after which they would be streamed down to about 500. Outstanding businesses and business ideas would receive grants and loans at very reasonable interest rates.

Other Innovations Under NEIP

Asamoah further revealed that there were a couple of initiatives that would be rolled out under the NEIP. He said one of the initiatives is the African Case Clearing House, where business stories and cases can be codified and given to other businesses and academia to learn from.

Also on the bill, according to him, is “Let’s Go Digital”, which will encourage businesses to go online, to take visa cards, master cards or even mobile money, as payment for product and services.

Let’s Go Digital aims at putting over 5000 businesses online.

National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week (NEIW)

NEIW, which rides on the theme, Strategize, Deploy and Execute, will be observed from November, 20 to November 24 with a series of activities that will enhance sustainable growth of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ghana.

The application for NEIP’s Business Support Programme begins on November, 2 and ends on December, 3 2017.

Interested parties can access application forms on NEIP’s website.

Source: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]