CEO of Solution Oasis Limited, Francesca Brenda Opoku, has urged stakeholders, particularly the government, to aggressively push the Made-In-Ghana agenda as a key strategy for recovery of the post-pandemic economy.
Responding to a question on what further steps can be taken by the government – beyond the provision of funds through the GH¢1 billion Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) – to strengthen the position of businesses, she noted that the black swan event has provided a once in a generation opportunity to put measures in place to improve national self-sufficiency during, and especially after the pandemic is over.
“Something I’ve noticed as missing is the expectation that government and industry would take the opportunity to go on some very aggressive Made-In-Ghana campaign because suddenly, the borders are closed and all we are left with is what we are producing in here,” she said at the maiden edition of the Vodafone Business Runway webinar, organised by Vodafone Business in partnership with the National Board of Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).
She added that government has to look at building stronger structures that will mitigate the shock if anything else comes up [after the pandemic], and have a lot more businesses standing and in terms of policy, that’s the very first thing, because it is government’s business to create policy and this policy should include things that make the economy very resilient.
“Government is investing in us to be able to produce and we saw it – people came up and did the PPEs, people did sanitizers, FDA rose up and gave them quick certification, so that we don’t need to import all of these. I am expecting that beyond that, there should be a rigorous campaign that says support Made-In-Ghana, buy Made-In-Ghana, so that by the time the borders are open, we are very strong and solid in terms of what we have here,” she added.
Additionally, she called for further strengthening of business support organisations and tasked them with guiding the recipients of the package in best practices and the ideal courses of action for sustainability. She stated that this of paramount importance as many of the sad recipients operate in the informal economy, with varying degrees of literacy and business acumen.
“I expect that [for] the business support organisations – NBSSI, GEPA, and AGI – a lot more investment would be made in them because for a lot of the people who receive funding and support, there are a number of them who do not know how they should prioritize; how they should make sure they don’t burn the support they receive.
So instead of going to build that expansion, know that this [facility] is to make sure you’re solid enough, you’re resilient enough to be able to take advantage of it when all of this is over. I’m expecting that government would support these organisations even more,” she stressed.
The Vodafone Business Runway webinar which was held under the theme: ‘After The Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP), What Next? The Way Forward for Ghanaian SME,’ was aimed at empowering Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SMEs) with the requisite skills, insights and opportunities that will enable them to manage and build thriving businesses.
The virtual event, which was hosted by Jerry Adjorlolo, had a cross-section of panelists including main speakers – Patricia Obo Nai, CEO, Vodafone Ghana; Kosi Yankey-Aryeh, Executive Director, NBSSI and Dominic Kwame Adu , CEO First National Bank. Remote Panel Contributors were Ethel Cofie, Founder, Edel Technologies; Kwame A.A. Opoku, Global Keynote Speaker/CEO, Reset Global People; Fafape Ama Etsa Foe (CEO, E-90 Ghana Ltd) and Gideon Dendzo, CEO, Giddens Innove.
