Executive Director of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, has disclosed that her outfit is working to digitise 500 Micro, Small Medium Scale Business in the country to enable the businesses expand their operations locally and prepare for the international market.
“The need to digitise MSMEs in the country is critical, as they are the backbone of the economy,” she said at the NBBSI Round Table for Women Entrepreneur event in Accra, adding that: “We (NBSSI) have gone into partnership with the German government to ensure that 500 MSMEs are digitalised and ready to face the world; and this will start hopefully next week to March 2021”.
The event, themed ‘Going Digital, a must to building resilience in the age of technology’, sought to educate and equip women entrepreneurs with technical know-how in order to grow their businesses as well as improve visibility to access markets. Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh noted that: “Digitalisation has come to stay; it is now and the future, and we need it to grow business and access the markets – including the international market.”
Addressing journalists, a Director at the NBSSI, Habiba Sumani hinted: “At the end of the round-table conversation, we (NBSSI) expect that women will feel more confident and comfortable in and among their peers to also seek necessary knowledge and skills to be well vested in technology”.
She stressed that it is now more important than ever for businesses to realise that to remain competitive there is need to adopt new and relevant technologies in their field of operations. She said, oftentimes, women seem to shy away from technology – not necessarily because they cannot use the tools, but due to the fact that they are not clothed with the requisite knowledge.
In view of that, NBSSI has put in some measures to fill the gap and make some common technological tools not only available but also accessible to assist women in their business operations. The NBSSI believes this move will aid them to become efficient and improve their business processes and procedures by cutting down inefficiency.
A Fund Manager at BUSAC Fund, Nicolas Gebara – one of the key partners of the NBSSI and Women Entrepreneurs, said the move is appropriate as women constitute half the workforce and cannot be neglected; adding that it will go a long way to ensure gender empowerment and equality in the country.
Women Entrepreneurs
Expressing their excitement about the initiative, Madam Aryetey – a five-year Spice business owner – said the move will help improve and expand her business. She however called on government to extend a hand to help more women, especially those in the MSMEs pushing hard to grow and employ others. Another, Josephine Thomson who deals in local cereals, believes digitising their businesses will indeed build resilience among women entrepreneurs who add to the country’s economy.
