ORGANISE YOURSELVES INTO STRONG ASSOCIATIONS (PAGE 22, NOV 27, 2010)

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has observed that for the private sector to be the engine of growth, intermediary organisations, such as trade and business association’s (TBSs), should act as the voice of the sector.
He stressed that private businesses must organise themselves into strong associations and through advocacy, use those associations as platforms to articulate their concerns for the attention of policy-makers at the national, regional and district levels.
“They can advise government on the adoption of prudent economic policies that will create the appropriate environment for private sector growth and development. The TBAs should strengthen the capacity of the private sector and determine policy as well as the allocation of resources,” Mr Nyamekye-Marfo suggested.
The Regional Minister made the observation in a speech read on his behalf at a workshop, in Sunyani, on promoting business associations in Ghana.
The workshop, which was organised by the Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF) and sponsored by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, was aimed at improving the members’ capacity on trade and business transactions.
According to Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, TBAs in Ghana were weak, poorly funded and lacked research and lobbying capacity.
He, however, expressed satisfaction that the workshop would strengthen the associations to enable them to have a strong and coherent voice to be able to effectively play their role in the development process and also contribute towards the achievement of the government’s “Better Ghana” agenda.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KAB Governance Consult, Mr Kwasi Afriyie Badu, who presented a paper on “The case for strengthening business associations,” said the policy environment remained relatively weak for the private sector in spite of the government’s declared commitment to private sector development.
He suggested that the leadership of business associations should strive for a strong voice in the determination of policy and the allocation of resources, adding that strengthening business associations was a shared responsibility.
According to Mr Badu, Ghanaian business associations had the potential to become a force to reckon with in the national arena, but said what was required was effective leadership and that the PEF needed to rise to the challenge and offer the required leadership.
The acting Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI), Mr Saeed Owusu-Brobbey, in a speech read on his behalf, said in the current competitive business world, it was almost impossible for any small-scale entrepreneur to survive as an individual.
He explained that the resources of an individual alone might not be adequate enough to enable him or her to compete effectively with the larger business concerns which made use of modern and complex scientific methods in production.