Some 90 Small and Medium scale Enterprises will soon benefit from a training project, Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE).
The overall objective of SCORE is to assist SMEs in becoming more sustainable through being cleaner, more productive and competitive, as well as, providing more sustainable and decent work.
The programme is being implemented by the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI), a sub-vented Agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), with support from ‘Invest for Jobs’, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), being implemented by GIZ.
Together with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), implementation of the SCORE project is aimed at boosting growth and productivity of SMEs in order to create jobs.
Ahead of the training, stakeholders including representatives from Ministries of Employment and Labour Relations, Trade and Industry as well as Development Partners and SME associations, met to officially launch the project and secure one another’s cooperation for success.
Team Leader of Invest for Jobs, Mr. John Duti, said “one of the key objectives of the Invest for jobs Programme is to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of Ghanaian SMEs, as well as their job-creating capacities. We are therefore excited about this strong partnership with the MDPI and the ILO in jointly achieving these objectives”.
He further added that owing to the huge contribution of SMEs to Ghana’s GDP, the need to make them locally and internally competitive cannot be over-emphasised.
Mr. Duti stressed the need to strengthen their resilience against external shocks, especially in times of crisis as currently with the COVID pandemic.
He told the B&FT in an interview that the training is meant to improve the competitiveness of SMEs by improving the manner they do things in order to create sustainable jobs. He said GIZ is investing about €150,000 in the training.
Duti observed that the rationale behind the training is that when enterprises save costs, they are able to expand and create more decent jobs.
The Director General of MDPI, Mr. Kweku Odame-Takyi said: “The SCORE programme speaks to the government’s industrialization agenda as it seeks to create a generation of productivity awareness operatives, develop cordial management and staff relationship as well as ensure work place safety and security since these are some of the expected outcomes of SCORE.
He promised that the MDPI and its implementation Partners were committed to delivering this
Programme to promote enterprise competitiveness, sustainable decent jobs of Small and Medium Enterprises in Ghana.
MDPI joined the SCORE project in 2013, the programme has trained 250 enterprises many of which have experience increased productivity and profits.
As the ILO exits sponsorship, BMZ has gracefully joined to provide the needed financial support and for which MDPI and its implementing partners (IPs) are grateful.
National Coordinator for the ILO in Ghana, Mr. Samuel Asiedu indicated that the ILO and GIZ had had many successful development cooperation projects in Ghana and globally. Therefore, he had high expectations of the collaboration with MDPI.
He believes MDPI would show the needed leadership and would work seamlessly with the other implementing partners (SCORE Training Solutions Ghana, Sekondi Takoradi Chamber of Commerce and Industries and HoCo Consult) to implement the project successfully.
“The goal is to build enterprises that would do business globally, create jobs and improve the economy of Ghana. We have no doubts they would perform creditably and sustain this partnership with GIZ into the future”.
Mr. Asiedu urged the implementing partners to us use this opportunity to further strengthen the bond that exist between the Government of Ghana and Germany, Switzerland and Norway.
SCORE training includes practical classroom sessions and in-factory consulting. It demonstrates best international practices in the manufacturing and service sectors and helps SMEs to participate in global supply chains. This is expected to lead to growth of enterprises, create jobs and improve the economy.
Funded by State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Switzerland and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), SCORE was first introduced in Ghana in 2011.
In all, 60 growth-oriented SMEs with high job-creation potential, will receive the SCORE training and another 30 will be trained in Business Continuity and Recovery.
