SNV Ghana, under its European Union-funded Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn Project), is calling on the Government of Ghana and all stakeholders to support the processes to enact an Act of Parliament which will support entrepreneurship development and job creation in Ghana.
The technical working committee of the Ghana Start-up Bill, formed by the then Ministry of Business Development, have engaged widely with all relevant stakeholders across the country and have come out with a draft Ghana Startup Bill which is currently undergoing regional validations.
The Bill, among other things seeks to set up an incentive framework for the creation and development of start-ups in Ghana to promote creativity, innovation and the use of new technologies in achieving a strong-added value and competitiveness at the national, regional and district levels.
Also, it is to provide the legal backing for business growth and promotion of startups for decent job and wealth creation, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal 8 which aims at creating decent work and economic growth, among others.
These were contained in a Communiqué issued and jointly signed on behalf of the Technical Working Committee of the Ghana Start-up Bill by Sherif Ghali, Coordinator; Solomon Adjie, Communications Officer; and Ernest Agyenim Boateng, Member at the end of the Working Committee Validation Workshop for the Western Region in Takoradi.
The advocacy for passage of the Ghana Start-up Bill is spearheaded by the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NIEP), Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (GCYE), Accra Digital Centre, Ghana Start-up Network (GSN), Ghana Hubs Network (GHN), Private Enterprise Federation (PEF) and i4Policy, with funding support from GIZ Make IT, Konrad Adeneur Foundation (KAS) and SNV Netherlands Development Organization in Ghana.
The committee is expected to present its final work, the draft Ghana Startup Bill, to the Ministry of Communications and Digitization, and subsequently to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Attorney General’s Department, Parliament of Ghana, and the Office of the President, after which they will run series of advocacy to ensure the Bill is passed by Ghana’s legislature.
According to the communiqué, the committee however, is currently engaging the general public and all relevant stakeholders through regional workshops, one-on-one meetings, radio, television, social media, and most importantly through a dedicated website for the Act, www.ghanastartupact.org, to validate the draft bill.
“We therefore call on every Ghanaian to get involved, by using any of the above listed means, most importantly the website, to share their inputs, comments and recommendations through comment boxes and dedicated phone numbers listed on the website,” the communique said.
The communiqué mentioned that it is the hope of the committee that the Government of Ghana and Parliament will see the need for this Bill to be passed urgently to help curb the perennial youth unemployment and under-employment canker facing Ghana.
“We also call on funding partners to support these processes, especially the advocacy, to ensure that this bill gets passed as soon as possible. As we mark this year’s International Youth Day, we also call on youth to be innovative and enterprising in not only starting businesses, but businesses that are sustainable and make use of waste,” the communiqué added.
