Dr. Ibrahim Awal, minister of Business development, says the current socio-economic growth needs of the country requires strong inputs into entrepreneurial skill development.

“Ghana since independence has mainly exported raw materials, and that alone is not very helpful now.”

Dr. Awal said this at the Fifth Baraka Policy Institute (BPI) Lectures, at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, on Wednesday in Accra.

It was under the theme,” The Primacy of Technical and Entrepreneurial Training in Ghana’s Industrialization Quest.”

He said Ghana and Cote d’ivoire for example produced a combined value of 120 billion dollars of Cocoa annually, but got only seven billion dollars in return.

The minister noted that this only happened because “we” lacked the ability to add value to the product. The minister said it was unfortunate that in spite of the fact that the country had a high entrepreneurial drive, such situations still exist.

Dr. Awal said the government had a number of initiatives underway to improve upon the entrepreneurial capacity of the country’s work force, which was currently crucial to the country’s socio-economic growth.

He said 3,000 people were expected to be trained in entrepreneurial skills in the country this year, while the teaching of entrepreneurial skills in second cycle as well as tertiary institutions would be intensified.

The minister said the key aim of these initiatives, was to enable young people to set up their businesses, instead of depending on government employment after school.

He said the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, was ever committed to supporting entrepreneurial growth in the country, in order to improve upon the lives of the citizenry, and also speed socio-economic growth.

Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah, head of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET), speaking on the topic, The Primacy of Technical and Vocational Education in Ghana’s Development Quest, said whilst African countries once concentrated on providing the more industrialised nations with raw materials, the current situation required a lot more than just that.

‘We need to work towards the Ghana beyond aid agenda, with skills development and training,” he said.

He said there was the need to frame the educational system in a manner that encouraged entrepreneurial and skills building at the early developmental stages of people, towards building a country with a strong rooting for sustained socio-economic growth.

Dr. Asamoah said skills building which was what COTVET was about, highly complemented entrepreneurial success because, it was easier to succeed at doing what one was well versed at.

He said this made the advancement of COTVET of great relevance to entrepreneurial development in the country.

The BPI Annual Lectures which started in 2014, are designed to provoke reflections on critical areas that need attention in the country’s development.

The BPI was established in 2014 with a special focus on promoting social justice and national development through research and advocacy.

Source: GNA