CEDECOM supports private sector HR dev't

Assin Fosu (C/R), Nov. 3, GNA - The Central Development Commission (CEDECOM), has embarked on capacity building of human resources in the private sector in support of the government's efforts to make the sector "the engine of growth".

Mr John Akowuah, Executive Director of the Commission, made this known at a training workshop on entrepreneurship, for 130 women from Assin North and South districts at Assin Fosu.

The participants were selected from among hairdressers, dressmakers, agro-processors and traders.

Mr Akowuah said unlike the formal sector, where special attention was given to capacity building, the private sector had been neglected for a long time and said: "This accounts for the inability of the sector to generate wealth".

"We cannot talk about reducing poverty in the society if we do not pay attention to the private sector where the bulk of the citizens fall", the Executive Director noted.

Mr Hope Kofi Tamakloe, Assin North Deputy Coordinating Director, admonished Ghanaians not to attribute the failure of their businesses to evil forces if they did not follow good business practices.

He urged those who wanted to go into business to plan well before embarking on the ventures as improper planning collapsed business. Mr Takyi Quansah, Headmaster of Assin Darmang Catholic School, advised Ghanaians to stop complaining about hardships when they had not made any efforts to improve upon their standard of living.

The Headmaster who deputized for the Assin North District Chief Executive, Ms Millicent Alice Kuranchie, urged private entrepreneurs to find time for their businesses, saying "wasting time on unnecessary things could collapse one's business".

Mr John Antwi Boateng, Head of Micro Finance and Enterprise Development Unit, CEDECOM, advised entrepreneurs to be focused and desist from becoming "Jacks of all trades, but masters of none". Mr Boateng stressed on the importance of record keeping, since without that one could not determine the direction a business was going. He urged them to be faithful to their financiers by paying back loans on time.

The participants were also taken through career development, time management and goal setting.

Similar programmes had been organized for entrepreneurs in Mfantseman, Twifo Heman Lower Denkyira, and Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem districts.