The Ministry of Trade and Industry, in collaboration with Social Enterprise (SE) Ghana, has held a stakeholder forum for inputs to me made into the yet-to-be passed Ghana Social Enterprise Policy which has gathered dust on the shelves for more than four years now.

The Ghana Social Enterprise Policy is designed to complement Ghana’s Second Medium-Term Private Sector Development Strategy (PSDS II, 2012-2017) and other development programmes and strategies which seek to develop a thriving private sector for the country.

Speaking at the forum, Principal Commercial Officer of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ofori Asante-Agyei, said delay in passing the policy is to ensure the final work has incorporated in it all relevant issues that will address the challenges facing the sector.

He emphasized that government remains committed to ensuring the policy is passed, adding that, there would be an implementation policy which would serve as a guide to the ministry and all stakeholders of to enable smooth passage when approved.

Executive Director of Social Enterprise Ghana (SE Ghana) – an affiliate of Social Enterprise Africa (SEA), Edwin Zu-Cudjoe, also stated that the Social Enterprise Policy will provide a conducive and an enabling environment for social enterprises to thrive in the country.

He, however, noted that areas around climate, disability, gender support and protection around foreign investors, and taking into consideration the African Continental Free Trade Area are missing elements in the policy.

Mr. Zu-Cudjoe said continuous engagement with stakeholders is one way of incorporating all these elements to make it a robust and full-proof document that captures the essence, needs and sentiments of all the various groups and stakeholders.

Co-founder and Managing Partner of Songhai Advisory, Kissy Agyeman-Togobo expressed excitement about the fact that there is finally an interest in support for social enterprise.

“I am hopeful that the suggestions and the inputs made by the stakeholders during this engagement will be taken into consideration in order for the policy to benefit all members of social enterprise,” said Prosper Tornyi of Youth Opportunity and Transformation in Africa, another social enterprise.

The Ghana Social Enterprise Policy was drafted in February 1, 2017 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in several dialogues with the stakeholders of social enterprises. The development of the policy was initiated by government to promote growth of social enterprises in the country in order to improve livelihoods, especially, among the youth.

The policy focuses on supporting the growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) within the social enterprise sub-sector of the country.