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BY: Maclean Kwofi
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Small business owners wishing to innovate and digitise their operations have until close of business on Friday, January 29, to submit their documentation to the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to benefit from the COVID-19 SME Innovation and Digitalisation Support Scheme.
Application portal opened on January 5, have received a huge number of applications from interested businesses in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) space.
Initiated by NBSSI in partnership with the German Development Agency (GIZ), the scheme seeks to help digitise the operations of 500 MSMEs by having their businesses online and making use of digital channels.
Despite the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy in 2020, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) registered more locally made products than in 2019.
In 2020, the Authority registered 14,690 products out of which 5,186 were locally produced as against 12,152 products registered in 2019 with only 2,717 made locally.
Mrs Delase A.A. Darko, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FDA, who made this known in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, said, generally, the FDA registered more products in all categories last year than in 2019.
The products comprised medical devices, foods, drugs and nutraceuticals, cosmetics and household chemicals, herbal products and food supplements.
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The Association of Small Scale Industries (ASSI) has called for the establishment of a special development bank that will take care of the needs of micro small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under the Ghana Enterprises Agency Bill, 2020.
The Association maintained that the MSME fund proposed under the new bill, should be converted into a financial institution that can support the MSME sector.
Speaking to the Graphic Business in an interview on January 16 in Accra, the President of ASSI, Mr Saed Moomen, underscored the need for a specialised financial institution for MSMEs due to the challenges in the provision of finance to the sector.
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President Akufo-Addo s address on updates to Ghana’s Enhanced Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic, On Sunday, 17th January 2021.
Fellow Ghanaians, good evening.
Before I start, let me use this opportunity to thank you all and Almighty God for enabling me to swear, for the second time, the oath of office as President of the Republic. The ceremony took place after I last spoke to you. I promise I will do my very best to live up to your expectations.
I am coming into your homes tonight with some rather unpleasant news. When I delivered Update No. 21, some two weeks ago, I urged all of us to continue adhering to the enhanced hygiene and mask wearing protocols that have served us well, and which led us to the situation where we were witnessing a gradual decline in the number of active cases.
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BY: Maclean Kwofi
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Micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the country are eagerly awaiting the President to give assent to the Ghana Enterprises Agency Bill, 2020.
The bill was passed by Parliament in November 2020 and, among other things, seeks to convert the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) into a bigger entity to be known as the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA).
When that comes into fruition, it will enable the new entity to become more impactful and deliver an efficient and strong MSME sector that can support the country’s economy.
Some MSME, led by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and Association of Small Scale Industries (ASSI), see the move as a game-changer for the sector and have called on the President to urgently assent to the bill for it to become law.