Bolgatanga, Sept. 23, GNA - Mr Dennis Puoridem, Head of the Tamale BUSAC Fund, has called on media practitioners to provide a wider coverage o= n issues relating to small scale businesses. He said this on Friday during a day's workshop in Bolgatanga for med= ia practitioners in the Upper East Region.

He said it was only through a wide media coverage on businesses, projecting their concerns and thereby prompting state actors, that business could thrive.

Mr Puoridem said the small scale business was the engine of growth in the society and there was the need for all stakeholders especially the medi= a to give priority attention to the sector. He said the 93BUSAC Fund is a grant mechanism allowing the Ghanaian private sector to campaign to local, regional and national authorities for changes to legal and regulatory framework that hinder private sector activities".

He said in the past the private sector in the three northern regions could not benefit from the existing regulatory regime and that informed the establishment of the BUSAC Fund in Tamale to assist the sector. Mr Puoridem said a number of applications for grants had been received and adding that they would need the assistance of the media to help project their needs. He called on Government to create an enabling environment for the private sector such as reviewing harsh policies which prevented the growth of the private sector.

He said research had shown that the first phase of BUSAC made a meaningful impact on the private sector particularly the small scale businesses and that was why donors had extended the project to the second phase. Participants expressed their gratitude for the programme and pledged t= o join the private sector to promote their interest by writing stories to hel= p articulate their concerns.