The Kwahu Business Forum, an effort by President John Dramani Mahama to boost local businesses, is expected to launch on April 19, 2025, in Mpraeso.
The forum is aimed to provide a platform for communication between financial institutions and private sector actors.
Additionally, it would talk about policy interventions, point out investment opportunities, and outline a course for creating a more resilient and competitive business environment in the nation.
Briefing the media yesterday at the Presidency, Accra, ahead of the forum, the Chief of Staff of the Office of the President, Julius Debrah, said the effort will assist in growing more small and medium firms.
The target groups, according to Mr. Debrah, include companies engaged in manufacturing, agro-processing, and tangible export-oriented enterprises.
According to the Chief of Staff, this will support President Mahama’s goal of spearheading the rapid export of Ghanaian goods to nations inside and outside the subregion.
He claimed that the idea originated from President Mahama’s determination to expand Ghanaian companies, which guided his interactions with the business owners during the 2024 election campaign last year.
“Luckily enough, he has won the election and wants to be a president who walks the talk. So as part of fulfilling his promise to the people he met last year (he’s going back to meet with them to discuss what they had talked of last year”), the Chief of Staff said.
According to Mr. Debrah, nearly all financial institutions, including the African Development Bank, have consented to take part in the forum in order to determine which businesses they could fund.
He clarified that the forum would be organized into sections for particular industries and feature participant wares and products.
“We are talking about this forum at the presidency because of the importance the President attaches to it. It is a project he wants to see succeed,” Mr. Debrah emphasized.
Each bank would select at least five bankable projects, nurture them, and provide a status report on them once a year, he explained.
If the project was maintained, Mr. Debrah projected that more than 600 sustainable firms would be established during the following five years.
The Chief of Staff stated that special emphasis would be paid to the development of youth-led firms in order to generate employment for their hordes of unemployed compatriots.
“This is all about how to grow businesses under President Mahama’s watch because with the private sector growing, not much will happen,” he stated.
Source: newsthemegh.com