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ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
ADRRI JOURNALS (www.adrri.org)
pISSN: 2343-6891 ISSN-L: 2343-6891 VOL. 13, No.1 (2), April, 2015
Ghana’s Entrepreneurial Landscape: The Need for a Coordinated National Entrepreneurship
Policy: An Overview.
Abudu Abdul-Ganiyu1 and Adams Issahaku2
School of Business and Management Studies, Tamale Polytechnic, Box 3ER, Tamale
Email: [email protected]
School of Business and Management Studies, Tamale Polytechnic, Box 3ER, Tamale
Email: [email protected] 1Correspondence: [email protected]
Received: 1st April, 2015 Revised: 26th April, 2015 Published Online: 30th April, 2015
URL: http://www.journals.adrri.org/ http://www.journals.adrri.com
[Cite as: Abdul-Ganiyu, A. and Issahaku, A. (2015). Ghana’s Entrepreneurial Landscape: The Need for a
Coordinated National Entrepreneurship Policy: An Overview. ADRRI Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, Ghana:
Vol. 13, No. 1(2), Pp. 22-55, ISSN: 2343-6891, 30th April, 2015.]
Abstract
The pressure on the public sector to create jobs for Ghana’s increasing population has remained ever
daunting since independence. Graduates from Ghana’s tertiary institutions sits at home for so many
years without jobs after leaving school. As the private formal and private informal sectors have emerged
and continued to contribute quite significantly to job creation and economic growth, it is a fact that
starting and growing a business to success in Ghana is difficult given the minimal state support. Perhaps,
the absence of policy or the splinter ways in which policies have existed is the cause for the obvious lack
of appreciable support to businesses. Ghana needs a well-grounded and coordinated national
entrepreneurship policy that will consciously address the specific needs of entrepreneurs across different
sectors, but more importantly will accentuate the importance of entrepreneurship in the national
economy. A national entrepreneurial policy for Ghana should also be geared towards inculcating
entrepreneurial spirit in the citizenry especially young people, and should accelerate the opportunities for
job creation to stem the tide of unemployment in Ghana. In this paper the researchers draw on the
examples and nature in which other countries, institutions and authorities have viewed entrepreneurship
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in varying perspectives in the context of national development, based on which we identify the possible
areas that Ghana could consider towards crafting a national entrepreneurship policy.
Keywords: policy, entrepreneurship, youth, agriculture, capital, risk, start-up
INTRODUCTION
The relevance of entrepreneurship on the socio-economic advancement of any Nation cannot be
overemphasized especially in pursuance of Ghana’s objective of building a prosperous nation
that will leap from the bracket of a lower-middle income economy to a higher middle income
economy in the not too distant future. Ghana has abundance of human and material resources
and if well harnessed, it could set the tone for accelerated economic growth and development.
But a comparison between Ghana’s state of development and its natural resource base certainly
show a mismatch.
Many have compared Ghana to some of the Asian tigers, namely, Malaysia, South Korea and
Singapore who had similar development circumstances with Ghana when the country was first
handed independence in 1957. For instance, whereas life expectancy in South Korea was
50years in 1957, Ghana who had a life expectancy of 45years only managed to increase that to
an average of 65years by 2012 and that of South Korea moved to 80years over the same period
(Burkson, 2012). On the economic front, Ghana’s per capita income in 1957 was 390 USD whilst
that of Malaysia was only 270 USD. Currently, GDP per capita based on Purchasing Power
Parity (PPP) of Malaysia is 23,338.0 USD and that of Ghana is only 1,858.2USD just enough to be
ushered into the brackets of a lower-middle income economy (World Bank, 2014).
Many factors have accounted for Ghana not leaving up to the growth and development
prospects many envisaged from the time of independence. Some have blamed it on a prolonged
period of political instability between 1966 and 1992 where Ghana recorded a combined period
of 22 years of rule in the hands of different military juntas. Whilst the relationship between the
state and businesses tended to be better when it came to civilian governments, the same
couldn’t be said of the military regimes. (Arkah etal, 2010). Years of fear and timidity in the
military regimes affected the emergence of private enterprise. Private businesses and
enterprises were accused of profiteering and rent seeking and this resulted in an all almost
diminished interest in setting up and managing one’s own business.
Fast forward to the era beyond 1992 after Ghana came out of a prolong era of military rule, the
Ghanaian economic and business environment started to take shape. Reforms in the early to
mid-90s signaled overall government intent at creating the enabling environment for private
enterprises. Striking measures put in place included accelerated deregulation, trade
liberalization, and considerable reduction in government direct involvement in the economy,
large scale privatization of State Owned Enterprises (SOE), stable economic management
through prudent fiscal and monetary policies. (Dordunoo and Dogbey, 2001). Dordunoo and
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Dogbey (2001), indicated that trade liberalization proceeded to gradually remove the incentive
system in order to comply with the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and regulations,
improve the competitiveness of local producers, and remove the extensive quantitative
restrictions and domestic controls. The tariff regime was progressively lowered to the rate of
20% by 2001 and was greatly simplified and the majority of price controls were relaxed. Ghana
has kept a respectable economic growth that has averaged 6% over the last decade.
However, an economy can only be said to be robust if growth impacts on human capital
development and the creation of jobs. And also the extent to which job creation relate to the
economic active population. There has to be a clear delineation of the rate of unemployed as
against the rate of employed so that a clear understanding of the efforts at creating jobs is
developed.
The need for a coordinated National Entrepreneurship Policy for Ghana is long overdue. A
national entrepreneurial policy should be able to identify key sectors of the economy that can be
the game changers in the whole scheme of job creation. The difficulties and the challenges
confronted by these sectors must be identified and properly evaluated so that there will be
adequate action responses to overcome them. Also, an entrepreneurial policy must identify
groups and other sectors that are likely to be marginalized as a result of the wave of liberalism
that is blowing over the World including Ghana, so as to know their specific needs and what
sort of responses are required. But more importantly the Nation should be able to fashion out
training and educational programmes that instill a sense of patriotism, self believe, and
confidence in young people, which will put them on a pedestal capable of taking their destinies
into their own hands. Training and education programmes must also equip individuals with the
necessary knowledge, skills and the ability to practice what they learn. (Kayanula and Quartey,
2000; Audretsch etal, 2007).
Background to the concept of entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship has a long standing history of scholarly presentations and analysis. Richard
Cantillion (1697-1734) was an Irish economist of French origin and he described the
Entrepreneur simply as one who bears risk by buying at a ‚Certain Price and selling at an
Uncertain Price‛. An understanding of who an entrepreneur was in this context depicted profit
making motive. Similarly, Adam Smith in his thought provoking book written in 1776, ‚The
Wealth of Nations‛ explained that ‚It was not the benevolence of the baker but self-interest that
motivated him to provide bread‛. ‚According to Adam Smith, Entrepreneurs were therefore the
economic agents who transformed demand into supply for profits‛.
In the ‚Principles of a Political economy‛ written by John Stuart Mills in 1848, he described
entrepreneurship as the ‚Founding of a private enterprise‛. Closely related to Stuart Mills’s
perspective but also an extension, is that of Peter Drucker (1909-2005) an Austrian-born
American management consultant, educator and author, described as the founder of modern
management when he said in 1985 that ‚Entrepreneurship was the creation of a new
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organization, regardless of its ability to sustain itself, let alone make profit‛. Once an individual
is able to establish a business it was Drucker’s view that he/she has to be labeled Entrepreneur.
But much of the consensus on what entrepreneurship and who an entrepreneur is among a
significant academic and scholarly writers appear to revolve around that of Joseph Schumpeter
(1883-1950). Schumpeter was an Austrian economist and political scientist. And in his book
‚Encyclopedic history of economic analysis‛ he stated that an ‚Entrepreneur is one who applies
innovation in the context of a business to satisfy unfulfilled market demand‛. Joseph
Schumpeter goes ahead to simply define Innovation as the ‚Transformation of creative ideas
into useful applications by combining resources in new or unusual ways to provide value to
society for or improved products, technology, or services‛.
Flowing from the perspective of Schumpeter, there is no doubt about the fact that we are in an
era where innovation and creativity has become an important basis for growth and
development in every aspect of human endeavor. It is for this reason that most academic
researchers appear to favor Schumpeter’s perspective on what constitutes entrepreneurship but
viewing other previous perspectives as important foundations as to what has become accepted
as entrepreneurship today. The link between Innovation and Entrepreneurship remains strong.
In fact many have described the link as simply inseparable.
However, for the broader context of national development and how nations can affect policy so
as to impact entrepreneurship more positively, a more clearer, understandable and coherent
explanation of what entrepreneurship is and who is an entrepreneur is provided by the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). UNCTAD (2012) defined an
entrepreneur as ‚an individual who identifies opportunities in the marketplace, allocates resources, and
creates value”. UNCTAD adds further that “Entrepreneurship being the act of being an entrepreneur,
- implies the capacity and willingness to undertake conception, organization, and management of a
productive new venture, accepting all attendant risks and seeking profit as a reward”.
Willingness to undertake conception, organization, and management of a productive new
venture provides insights as to what to expect in a national entrepreneurship policy. Because
policy must envisage the need to build individual capacities in ways that they can identify
opportunities and also stepping forward with thinking that develops an idea to take advantage
of any such opportunity. How the individual will bring necessary resources together and also
leading and managing processes that can actualize the entrepreneurial idea are fundamental
issues that any national entrepreneurship policy must seek to address. It is for this reason that
for the purposes of this paper the UNCTAD perspective provides a clearer headway.
Ghana as a nation can boost of abundance of human and material resources that if well
harnessed, could propel an accelerated economic growth and development. A thorough
analysis and a comparison between Ghana’s growth and development level as against its
natural resource base reveals some level of mismatch. Many factors have accounted for Ghana
lagging behind in terms of development relative to her peers such as Malaysia, South Korea and
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Singapore. Some have blamed it on a prolonged period of political instability between 1966 and
1992, a period characterized by military rule. These military governments who rule by fear and
intimidation, succeeded in discouraging private individuals from venturing into their own
businesses. The few who were running their own businesses suffered seizures of business
properties purely on the ruler’s discretion. The researchers are of the view that Ghana’s lack of
coordinated growth and development can be blamed on the lack of policy to guide, support and
provide direction to both private businessmen and the government and its institutions. Where
a basic guide exists, there is always the lack of political will to implement such guide to the
advantage of entrepreneurs. This vacuum or semi-vacuum in policy direction for entrepreneurs
in Ghana is serving as a motivator that is driving the researchers into gleaning literature to
enable us make an attempt to proffer some form of policy guide that will inform stakeholders to
collaborate and brainstorm to help find the best way in terms of entrepreneurial policy direction
for Ghana.
The main objective of this study is to explore the entrepreneurial landscape of Ghana and
propose the areas that require inclusion in a national entrepreneurial policy.
Specifically, the study proposes entrepreneurial policies covering various sectors in the
economy and also explored funding opportunities and institutional framework necessary to
support the overall entrepreneurial policy proposed.
This study seeks to provide policy direction for small, medium and large scale private business
operators in Ghana. It is an attempt to set the pace for policymakers and stakeholders in the
business landscape in Ghana to collaboratively fashion out an entrepreneurial policy that will
help propel Ghana’s growth and development to the next level. This piece of work will also be
useful to academia and also provide the platform for more research and discussions on the need
for entrepreneurial policy direction in Ghana.
METHODOLOGY
This is purely a theoretical investigation based on published literature, observation of the
situation in the country and experiences drawn from interaction with colleagues, practitioners
and students in and outside the lecture halls. Secondary data was used as the main source of
information for this paper. Intensive literature was reviewed, particularly, policy documents,
which guided the thinking of the researchers in their quest to make policy proposals.
What to expect in a National Entrepreneurship Policy
The impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth and job creation has been an ongoing
discussion. Meanwhile, promoting entrepreneurship as a separate policy to be achieved by
specific policy choices and tools is relatively recent. This makes the subject of entrepreneurship
policy not yet clearly defined. (Baumol etal, 2011). Entrepreneurship policy is different from an
SME policy. An SME policy can be viewed as a modernized policy that intends to promote
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through targeted state interventions, as currently
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pertains in the United States of America and Malaysia,(Audretsch etal, 2007) . Audretsch etal
(2007) argues that entrepreneurship policy is considerably more pervasive, embracing a broad
spectrum of institutions, agencies and different constituency groups.
This delineation is necessary so as to make the argument that the idea of a national
entrepreneurship policy is not to reinvent the wheel but to ensure that entrepreneurship in its
broadest sense becomes a focus of public policy. The idea of a national entrepreneurship policy
is been contemplated by nations around the world whiles others are even at advance stages of
developing a national entrepreneurship policy. South Africa already have a national
entrepreneurship policy whiles India and Ireland are at the verge of owning a national
entrepreneurship policy.
UNCTAD (2012) recognizes the fact that when it comes to a national entrepreneurship policy
‚one size does not fit all‛. According to UNCTAD the national economic and social context and
the specific development challenges faced by a country will largely determine the overall
approach to entrepreneurship development. UNCTAD proceeds to identify what it describes as
six priority areas for policy focus that have a direct impact on entrepreneurial activity as:
i. formulating national entrepreneurship strategy
UNCTAD recognizes the need for every nation to develop a national strategy for
entrepreneurship. A strategy will ensure the coordination of efforts at the national level
that are intended to promote business and enterprise development. As it exist even
though splinter efforts across various levels has the ultimate objective of enhancing the
doing of business, a coordinated national effort will ensure more effectiveness and better
evaluation of the impacts of the efforts. It is for this reason a national entrepreneurship
policy remains fundamental.
ii. optimizing the regulatory environment
UNCTAD finds the need for a National Entrepreneurship Policy to vigorously deal with
the issue of regulation. Whilst regulations should seek to providing opportunities for all,
regulations should also bring socially and economically marginalized sectors to the
center in order to create and broaden an opportunity based economy.
iii. enhancing entrepreneurship education and skills
According to UNCTAD (2012), promoting and instilling the culture of entrepreneurship
in people especially the youth must be a fundamental pillar in any entrepreneurship
policy. This must therefore inform the direction on education and skills acquisition as a
component of an entrepreneurial policy
iv. facilitating technology exchange and innovation
Innovation is at the heart of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial endeavors are more
likely to be successful if investment is made in technology in order to discover
innovative outcomes that are implementable.
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v. improving access to finance
The difficulty of most entrepreneurial endeavors is access to finance especially for start-
ups. UNCTAD entreats any national entrepreneurial strategy must find a need to
dealing with the financial issues of businesses especially start-ups
vi. promoting awareness and network
Creating a network of successful entrepreneurs who in turn can serve as mentors to
other entrepreneurs especially young people is important. The network must also
include experts who can provide expertise in building the capacity of entrepreneurs. The
network of all these people must be able to relate formally and informally in ways that
leads to sharing experiences and best practices (UNCTAD, 2012).
Chambers Ireland is one of the largest business organizations in Ireland with over 50 member
chambers. In June 2013, Chambers Ireland made some recommendations to the Irish
Department for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation as part of efforts towards developing a
National Entrepreneurship policy. Among others the recommendations included the following:
i. A commitment to restore consumer confidence and domestic demand in the Irish economy.
Without this, people with entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas will remain unwilling to
take the risks involved in starting a new business.
ii. Government should promote a rationalized and joined-up approach to support for entrepreneurs.
iii. Local Authorities and national Government must be encouraged to collaborate with their local
Chambers of Commerce to facilitate the dissemination of information and provision of expert
knowledge.
iv. Entrepreneurial activity should be encouraged by improving the business environment for
micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
v. The Government’s guidelines on insolvency must guarantee that individuals who have
previously failed in business, but have credible new ideas, are not prohibited from taking further
risks.
vi. We call on the Government to recognize the work done by business support organizations in the
areas of business networking and mentoring. Support and funding should be provided to allow
them to continue this work (p:3.)
At the fourth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
organized by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in October 2013, policymakers,
researchers, and others from around the world came together in a roundtable discussion about
entrepreneurship public policy. The day was broadly organized into four areas that affect
entrepreneurship: Regulatory Policy; Entrepreneurial Finance; University Technology
Commercialization and Education and Entrepreneurship. On regulatory policy, the roundtable
recommended that policymakers should figure out in which direction their regulatory policy
tilts. Regulation should promote competition and free entry and prevent the economic playing
field from becoming distorted in favor of established companies. The round table
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recommended that public policy must attempt to increase capital forms and eliminate any
obstacles that may hinder young businesses access to the forms of capital. In addition,
governments should continue to look for ways to promote financial innovations that benefit
entrepreneurs.
In general, two broad issues emerged regarding technology commercialization at the round
table. First, connections between different individuals and organizations may matter more than
the specific commercialization structure. In Malaysia, for example, there is a programme called
‚Silicon Valley Connect,‛ and this is a program to link Malaysian technology companies with
American firms to help guide their efforts to commercialize university research. Connecting
individuals in startups, big companies, and universities both within country and across the
World will create more opportunities for entrepreneurs to successfully commercialize research.
Secondly, the formal channels of technology commercialization such as licenses and patents can
sometimes be the least important in terms of how innovations get out of a university. The
roundtable recognized that (a) Researchers should be allowed to move between the university
setting and industry, whether in a big company or in an entrepreneurial firm and, b)
entrepreneurship education and training programs vary widely in what they offer and in how
countries deploy them. It emerged that a recent review of the evaluation of such programs by
the World Bank found small effects on the individuals and businesses that go through them.
This underscores the need for more work to be done on standardized data collection and
research regarding entrepreneurship education. Importance of experiential learning, the value
of connections, the role of mentors, and the necessity of management skills were recognized as
newer ways of entrepreneurial education achieving the needed impact.
Finally, the roundtable recognized that the differences in the quality and performance of firms
across countries can be attributed to management skill, and that it should not be confused with
business school training: Business administration is not the same thing as management.
Entrepreneurs are, in many ways, managers: They manage employees, suppliers, investors,
customers, themselves, and a bewildering array of daily problems. Programs that help
entrepreneurs with management skills, such as the workshops and summits that INADEM has
held in Mexico may be useful in addressing this issue (Kauffman Foundation, 2013).
PROPOSED AREAS FOR GHANA’S ENTREPRENEURIAL POLICY
Van Praag and Versloot (2007) identify four economic benefits of entrepreneurship: job
generation; innovation; productivity and growth; and the potential for entrepreneurship to
increase the ‚utility‟ of individuals by increasing, for example, their satisfaction or income.
However, how these benefits are realized and inures to the entire economy depends on the
policy choices Governments make. A review of Ghana’s policy landscape points to a clear lack
of entrepreneurial policy.
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It is against this background that we identify the following principal areas that should inform a
National Entrepreneurship Policy for Ghana:
SMEs development
Youth enterprise development
Development of small and medium scale agriculture
Social Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial education
Sources of financing entrepreneurship and institutional framework for implementing a
national entrepreneurship policy
SMEs DEVELOPMENT
Characterizing the SMEs Sector in Ghana
UNIDO defines SMEs in developing countries based on the number of employees in an
enterprise. A small enterprise has between 5 and 19 workers. A medium enterprise has 20 to 99
workers and these include manufacturing firms and exporting companies. Meanwhile the
National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in Ghana, defines SMEs as enterprises that
employ not more than 29 workers, with investment in plant and machinery (excluding land and
building) not exceeding the equivalent of $100,000 (Oppong, Owiredu and Churcill, 2014;
Kayanula and Quartey, 2000).
The World all over recognizes the importance of SMEs, to the extent that Nations are
continuously engaged in creating enabling and congenial conditions for SMEs to thrive.
Countries like Russia and China, now recognizes the importance of small business ownership
after a long standing history of state control over the business sector. In an era where economic
liberalism has emerged as the dominant force on the global stage, any nation that ignores the
need for small business ownership does so at her own peril. (Scarborough, Wilson and
Zimmerer 2008). Abor and Adjasi (2007) stated that SMEs contribute about 85 percent of
manufacturing employment and account for 92 percent of businesses in Ghana.
Even though the population and housing census for instance indicates that 94.7% of the
economic active population is employed in Ghana, it is instructive to mention that the private
sector accounts for a hooping 93.1% of all jobs in Ghana. Also, 86.1% of private sector jobs are
generated by the informal sector. Again, of all the jobs in the private sector, a significant 64.8%
are self-employment (Ghana Statistical Service, 2010).
There may be various reasons accounting for the scenario where the private sector generates
more jobs in Ghana and chief among these is the fact that the public sector has limited job
opportunities and can only engage few people within the economic active population. People
will then have to find jobs in the private sector either by being self-employed or being
employed by others. And for those who are self-employed, it could just also be that people are
prepared to take their destinies into their own hands and to be financially independent.
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But the major problem confronting almost all SMEs in Ghana is access to financing. It is either
capital for SMEs is non-existent or where capital exist at all, the terms and conditions that comes
with accessing capital makes it prohibitive. Almost all financial institutions in Ghana looks
beyond viable business plans that are brought before them by SMEs to include the provision of
collateral before any credit or loan application can be approved. For most of the SMEs
described above, whether those that are already in existence or those starting-up, these
conditions are so stringent that it makes them unable to access credit in a lot of cases.
What to consider in an entrepreneurial policy in relation to SMEs development.
The researchers consider that, policy choices on entrepreneurship in relation to SMEs should be
looked at along two broad dimensions. The first dimension are the policies that addresses the
concerns of businesses and enterprises that are already in existence, but should include more
critically, policy measures intended to encourage more people to consider setting up their own
enterprises. The second dimension is whether the State should work on lowering barriers that
hamper the success and growth of SMEs, or the State should come to a conclusion that barriers
that hamper SMEs growth are not to go away any time soon, and should therefore consider
extending direct state support to the SMEs (Storey, 2008).
Enterprises that are already in existence will continue to be successful if the state identifies their
critical needs and work out adequate solutions to them. On the other hand through the infusion
of adequate and prioritized entrepreneurial education and training, the spirit of
entrepreneurship can be inculcated into young people especially through our educational
system to first think about setting up their own businesses right after leaving school
(Entrepreneurial education will be discussed as one of the principal areas).
There are barriers that hamper both existing and new businesses which lies firmly within the
bosom of the State. Take for instance, the processes it must take an individual to setup a
business in order for it to be up and running. If the processes involved are long, rugged, tedious
and comes with a bureaucratic paper burden, that alone is already a disincentive for any
individual who has the intention of setting up his/her own business. For the businesses that are
already in existence how long must it take them to for instance to renew their business
registration? Or file their tax returns so that they do not run into trouble with tax officials.
The World Bank 2006 ‚Ease of Doing Business Survey‛ reports that to start a ‚standard
business‛ in Mexico City requires 9 procedures, requires 58 days and requires costs which are
the equivalent of 16% of income per capita. This contrasts with, for example, Canada where 2
procedures are required to start the ‚standard business‛, taking 3 days and at a cost of less than
1% of income per capita (Storey, 2008). Even though business registration in Ghana is now
decentralized which has brought down the number of days to get a business registered from
about 90 days in 2000 to about 20days in 2014, this however is still considerably long compared
to international best practice.
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Government will therefore have to remove barriers and impediments that lie within the control
of the state that hamper the growth of SMEs. This will create an enabling and congenial
environment that furthers the interest of both existing and new businesses. The State must
however be innovative and proactive in generating alternative policies and ideas that helps
SMEs to navigate the barriers that do not lie within the control of Government. One way is
through the extension of direct Government support especially to existing SMEs in the form of
capacity building and credit support. The state can do this by rationalizing existing funding
institutions to ensure that they remain on their core mandate in order to provide the needed
funding support to SMEs or through loan guarantees for SMEs who approach commercial
financial institutions for credits but are unable to support their credit applications with the
needed collateral (Funding issues will still be looked at in more detail as one of the principal
areas)
Government can also use the tax regime to promote both existing businesses and start-ups. For
an existing SME that has demonstrable success by virtue of it idea as well as how the business
plan is evaluated and can employ at least five employees for its business activities to be
managed more appropriately, the state can grant them tax holidays in income tax so that this
can be ploughed back as investment for expansion within a five year tax holiday. This tax
holiday should be coupled with ongoing capacity building to ensure that the venture remains a
success. Capacity building should remain a constant feature even after the tax holiday elapses.
AN ENTREPRENEURIAL POLICY IN RELATION TO THE YOUTH
Before making recommendations as to what to consider, it is important to understand the
concerns and factors that have plagued efforts at getting more people to think entrepreneurial
and entrepreneurship as a means of livelihood.
Conditions Affecting Youth Entrepreneurship in Ghana
As lecturers of Entrepreneurship over the years we sum up the concerns of most young people
along five dimensions:
Lack of sufficient knowledge, skills and inspiration
For a lot of young people, entrepreneurship as an alternate career path still remains gray to
them. Most young people grow up in Ghana believing that success can only be attributed to
certain career paths only. Notable among such are Medical Doctor, Bank Manager, Accountant,
a Nurse or a Teacher. The talk of becoming a businessman or businesswoman appears to be
even ridiculing in some cycles. By virtue of this thinking, career paths for a lot of young people
are determined for them right from childhood. So all the knowledge and skills they acquire is
geared in that direction. So if they realize the importance of Entrepreneurship anytime in their
adulthood, it takes time considerably to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills whether
formally or informally to prepare them for the world of Entrepreneurship.
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Lack of start-up support
Engaging in Entrepreneurship just goes beyond having an innovative idea. An innovative idea
must be backed with having the enabling environment to operate. Even businesses that have
existed in markets for years continue to have challenges within a global business environment
that remains ever turbulent. Without the needed support for start-up, the fear factor will
always be lingering in the minds of would be young entrepreneurs which is the fear of failure.
The Ghanaian society lacks business support and advisory institutions that will constantly
engage young people who intend venturing into entrepreneurship to establish the viability and
feasibility of their ideas and advice young people appropriately on what to do and what not do
in order to be successful.
The Avoidance of Risk
Engaging in Entrepreneurship is risky. One can lose income that he/she has spent years saving.
Precious time is also involved and in the process one can lose his/her association with friends
and sometime family. Entrepreneurship involves a lot of thinking because innovative ideas can
only emerge through creative thoughts. The question then is, are young people ready to go
through all these in the hope of building a successful business? For some it is no. No because
there are other alternatives that they can resort to in order to avoid all the risk that is associated
with Entrepreneurship.
Access to capital
The major concern of most young people with entrepreneurial acumen is access to capital to
finance their innovative entrepreneurial ideas. This prompted Issahaku, Ganiyu and Sophia
(2015) to state that SMEs entrepreneurs lack funding and financial support from financial
institutions under the constraints of lack of collateral security to support their request for
credits. Most young people do not even know the various avenues that they can tap in finding
capital for their business ideas and the fact that fund managers tend to shy the business ideas of
most young people. Issahaku, Ganiyu and Sophia (2015), opined that, the lack of or limited
access to capital market, both locally and internationally coupled with information barriers and
higher costs of intermediation for micro entrepreneurs are contributory factors for the lack of
capital. On the rare occasions where funds are made available for young people within start-ups
or existing businesses, the terms and conditions are so stringent.
The get rich mentality
Success these days in Ghana most especially is not very much dependent on the innovative and
extraordinary things people are able to do. So as long as what one does, does not bring money,
nobody gives you attention. Gone are the days when people resolved to building their incomes
and assets slowly and also keeping an eye on the wellbeing of society in general.
Unfortunately. People use all manner of means - orthodox and unorthodox - to acquire wealth
and nobody questions the source of their wealth. Unfortunately this mentality is also not lost on
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the young people in Ghana. They find their colleagues pursue other careers and have become
rich overnight. Then the signal it sends is that instead of going into Entrepreneurship which
comes with it attendant problems or better put challenges, why not take the rather easy roots to
make money legally or illegally. This partly explains the emergence of web scammers other
words known as ‚sakawa‛ as it is referred to in Ghana. This is has corrupted the moral fabric of
Ghanaian youth as they see no shame in continuously defrauding people by whatever means
especially through the internet.
Weaknesses in our Educational System
This paper looks at Entrepreneurial Education as a principal area for an entrepreneurial policy
on its own but except to say here that our entire educational system does not take into
consideration the need for inculcating entrepreneurial spirit into young people. This is evident
in the educational curriculum and even how the entrepreneurial courses are handled within our
educational system right from high school to the tertiary level.
What to consider in the entrepreneurial policy for the youth
It is important to indicate that any entrepreneurial policy that relates to the youth in Ghana
must seek to address the concerns and challenges that have been identified above.
Addressing the attitudinal and skills needs of young people
The principal area on training and education will address the matter of skills needed by young
people in order to be entrepreneurial. However, a concerted effort by Government, the
community, parents and educational institutions should be aimed at identifying young people
wherever they are to initiate the process of engagements with young people geared towards
instilling the right attitudes into them in order to do away with the get rich quick mentality.
Local authorities for instance should be directed as a matter of policy to reactivate the
community centers in their localities. Youth forums, durbars and seminars can always be
organized at these centers and with appropriate resource persons taking turns to address the
youth on matters of entrepreneurship and the attitudes they need to be successful. Apart from
community centers, community radio stations can also be used as basis of targeting young
people with right messages intended to build positive attitudes in them. Successful young
entrepreneurs should be identified and their interactions with other young people can be a
source of motivation.
Ensuring business sustainability
Business sustainability is fundamental to assure young people that despite the risk associated
with entrepreneurship, the state has systems and structures in place that assures them that once
a business is set up, that business is there to stay and bear all the fruits that are expected.
Business sustainability is the ability of a business entity to adapt to changes within its
environment overtime and continuing to have the capacity to survive within those
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environments. More than 60% of business start-ups in Ghana do not live beyond their first
year of existence. This phenomenon can be de-motivating to young people. Hence the need for
well-coordinated policies and programmes that ensures the sustainability of young businesses.
Microfinance programmes need to be further expanded and adapted to the specific situation of
young people. The State must put measures in place that enhances access to business
incubators, better training and business services and these will enable young entrepreneurs
analyze markets and develop their own market niches. The state can create access to expert
advice and timely information by creating an e-governance platform which will be a one stop
shop for all the information needs of young entrepreneurs.
Mentorship programmes
Local government authorities, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)
should be directed as a matter of policy to create a desk or office at the Assemblies to be
responsible for implementing and coordinating mentorship programmes in their respective
Assemblies. Here, young entrepreneurial start-ups can always be identified and right there in
the locality successful entrepreneurs who have already existing businesses are also identified to
mentor the young ones. This can be done by having a focal person at the Assembly responsible
for building a data base of young entrepreneurs, the nature of their businesses and their
mentoring and motivational needs. The database will also include the successful entrepreneurs
with already existing businesses who are capable and ready to mentor the young ones. These
will make it easier to match mentors with mentees at the local level. Most mentoring
programmes in Ghana are concentrated in the national capital, Accra and other major cities.
And this practice cuts off a chunk of young people in the peri-urban and rural areas.
Social security and protection
One other de-motivating factor to young people in their lack of preparedness to engage in
entrepreneurship is the lack of social security. So that, instead of becoming an owner of his/her
own business with all the attendant problems especially at the beginning, by virtue of the lack
of social security young people will prefer to be employed by already well-established
organizations. Young entrepreneurs like any other age groups engaged in regular employment
are also concerned about access to housing, access to health care delivery etc. But they are also
concerned about pension because they are not going to be active and have the energy to work
forever. Even though the social insurance and pension policies of Ghana takes into
consideration the private sector, but that is only with the private formal which constitutes just
about 7% (GSS. 2010). So for the rest of the private informal sector, even though some pay some
form of taxes at the local and national levels almost all do not make any contributions to SSNIT
neither for them the business owners, nor the people they employ. This cannot be good enough.
The State must institute measures that rope every business into the formal sector and secondly
identify the different demographics of entrepreneurs. And for young entrepreneurs in
particular, the entrepreneurial policy must seek to address their social security needs.
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The state must make some policy choices here. Firstly, will the state consider paying for the
social security of all entrepreneurs engaged in viable start-ups in the first few years of their
operation? Will the State consider social housing for instance for young entrepreneurs who are
mostly found across town during the day and at night do not have places to sleep? So that to a
point young entrepreneurs will then become part of any affordable housing scheme the State
has in place? Ghana already has a National Health Insurance Scheme and despite its challenges,
it is touted as one of the best in Africa. Can the NHIS subscribe every young person who
engages in his/her own start-up for free? The person will then be required to pay his/her own
premium after an agreed incubation period say after two years?
Youth Centers for Research, Innovation and Technology (YCRIT)
Whatever name it can be referred to, we think that as a matter of urgency Ghana needs to
establish centers across all the Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies that fulfill the
research, technological and innovation needs of young people. The attention of the Youth these
days is shifting away from the old traditional concepts of Libraries to concepts and
establishments that young people most especially can have fun playing with Information and
Communication Technology whilst they learn. In order to tap the energies of young people so
as to direct them into ventures that are more useful we must learn to think at the level of the
youth by giving them what they need and society getting what it also needs from young people.
We are in a digital world and there is no gain saying that young people are the fulcrum around
which this new world order revolves.
Ghana can position itself as the digital hub of West Africa. And investment in the sector can
build capacity to a level where digital services provided in Ghana both software and hardware
can be comparable to the rest of the World. If the Indians and the Koreans have done it there is
no way Ghana cannot do it. The Ghanaian youth have shown their interest and desire in ICT.
And this we must seize on. The YCRIT across all Districts will be resourced with all manner of
ICT devices and equipment’s and at the same time there should be dedicated staff who are
experts in various aspects of ICT themselves and are capable of providing training to young
people in both software and hardware. These centers must also engage the services of experts in
the area of practical entrepreneurship, business and financial management to provide training
and guidance to young people on a regular basis. When young people have gathered these
skills in the area of ICT and entrepreneurial knowledge they should be encouraged to use
facilities at the center to explore for more information that can help them develop innovative
entrepreneurial concepts with the help of the experts. The YCRIT will be incubating centers for
young people with entrepreneurial ideas.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL POLICY ON AGRICULTURE
Ghana’s agricultural sector
A key sub component of a National Entrepreneurial Policy should be on Agriculture.
Agriculture, including forestry and fishing, remains the largest industrial sector employing
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41.5% of the economically active population aged 15 years and older in Ghana (GSS, 2012). Even
more revealing is the fact that in the Northern and Upper regions, more than 70 percent of the
economically active population is engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing activities.
The relevance of the Agricultural sector has never been lost on anybody. But question is why
has the sector been left largely in the hands of people even though in the majority but are within
the lower income bracket in Ghana? It is mind boggling to realize that despite the more than
40% citizens in Ghana who are engaged in Agriculture, they are not able to sufficiently feed the
rest of the population including themselves. Statistics from the Statistical Service of Ghana
indicates that majority of the agricultural households are either into mono cropping i.e. having
one crop on a field or plot (58.3%) and intercropping type of farming (22.8%). Mixed cropping
i.e. having two crops on a field is carried out by 18.9% of household members. And it has to be
said that a majority of all these categories of farmers are engaged in subsistence farming. More
than 60% of the people engaged in crop farming in Ghana are women and the percentage who
engages in mono cropping is therefore not surprising because most of the women engaged in
Agriculture just do so to basically feed and supplement the incomes of their families.
Ghana must take small holder farmers seriously. Because it is through their thick and thin that
we still go to the market and find food stuffs to buy. At least Ghana has not experienced famine
over the last three decade and this can best be credited to the small-holder farmer. They
constitute the bulk of our population and if there are policies and programmes that affects them
positively then it will be right to say that more than half of the good people of Ghana have had
their problems already dealt with. For small-scale farmers to become entrepreneurs they need
to be innovative and forward-looking. They need to manage their businesses as long-term
ventures with a view to making them sustainable. They need to be able to identify opportunities
and seize them. Some small-scale farmers do have these qualities, but they still focus on
maintaining their traditional way of life. Their production decisions are based on what they
need not on what is possible (Kahan 2012). It is important to state that the Entrepreneurial
policy on agriculture should encourage small-holder farmers to see farming as a business with
the sole aim of generating profit for the owner.
In order to derive full benefits from the agricultural sector in Ghana, the numerous challenges
confronting the sector will have to be overcome. The International Food Policy Research
Institute reports in its Global Food Policy Report in 2011, that between 1961 and 2009, per capita
arable land in sub-Saharan fell by about 76 square meters a year, and the steepest in the World.
The FAO estimates that global land area has degraded annually by more than 1%. This has
resulted in a situation where farmers resort to all manner of measures including the over
application of chemicals in order to increase the yields per acreage. A ban on the exportation of
some fruits like pineapple and banana to the European and American markets is currently in
place. This has resulted in a situation where Ghanaian farmers have not been able to take
advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) despite the duty free access to
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the American Market. The land tenure system in Ghana is so weak and coming by land either
on rental or lease basis for purposes of agriculture is so difficult and this has turned a lot of
investors away who otherwise were ready to invest in large scale and commercial agriculture.
Farmers are also faced with the lack of capital to undertake farming especially all year round
farming and this has only confined most Ghanaian farmers to seasonal farming as they depend
on rain fed Agriculture. The road network in Ghana is so bad especially in the rural areas where
most farming projects are found. After going through the struggles and drudgery of tilling the
land, farmers find it difficult to cart their harvested produce to markets where they are needed.
This situation often result in farm produce staying on the farm lands until they rot or having to
face the ordeal of middle men and women who force these poor farmers to sell their produce at
rather bargained prices.
As can be observed, Ghana’s agriculture sector is so weak and despite Ghana’s potential in the
sector in both comparative and competitive terms, this potential is yet to be harnessed. While
some of the challenges enumerated above can be dealt with in an overall national effort, there
are some others that can be looked at from an entrepreneurial perspective. Hence, the need for
an agricultural component in the proposed national policy on entrepreneurship. Agriculture
entrepreneurship is defined as the strategic growing of crops and keeping of animals. It can also
be explained as the incorporation of entrepreneurship skills and models to farming business
(Mujuru, 2014). Meanwhile, the Applied Plant Research Institute (2007) define an
entrepreneurial farmer as a person who is able to create and develop a profitable farming
business in a changing business environment.
Proposed areas that an entrepreneurial policy on agriculture should consider
What distinguishes a farmer who is entrepreneurial in his/her approach to one who is not is that
the entrepreneurial farmer produces a clear picture in his mind of what is possible and the
future he wants. He knows that what is possible is determined by the market. The farmer-
entrepreneur is always looking for new opportunities. He knows that new opportunities are
found in the market. The farmer-entrepreneur wants to make profits. He knows that profits are
made in the market. An entrepreneurial farmer has the initiative, drive, capacity and ability to
take advantage of opportunities. An Agricultural entrepreneurial policy must seek to remove
the bottlenecks that hinder the efforts of farmers but should also seek to instill and inculcate in
the farmer the attitude of entrepreneurship.
Treat farm projects as business entities
Agriculture in Ghana as the figures show is largely subsistence in nature. We need to develop a
business mindset to the way Agriculture is done. This must start with the requirement that
every farm project must be registered as a business entity. No profit making activity can take
place without been registered. Small holder manufacturers, mechanics, service providers such
as chop bars, restaurants and guest houses are all treated as businesses and are required to
register with the appropriate authorities. Farming in Ghana is different especially small-holder
farms. Most agricultural activity in Ghana rest in the hands of the rural poor and they find it
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simply as an activity to grow food and feed their families for the rest of the year after the
farming season. But this mentality is wrong and an entrepreneurial policy must seek to correct
that. Small-holder farms can be drawn into the formal sector if they are treated as registered
business entities. Registering them as businesses will lead to comprehensive data base on the
number and nature of small holder farms that are currently operational. This will also ensure
that they are able to draw benefits that they will not have otherwise gotten if they remain
unregistered. Having small holder farms registered as businesses will also put more
responsibility in the hands of the business owners to ensure that their entrepreneurial ideas
succeed at all cost.
Ensuring the survival of farming businesses
Now that all farming activities have been registered, this stage is to ensure that they survive as
business entities. Here, the processes that have to be considered at ensuring that any business in
whatever industry survives are the same in having to deal with farming businesses.
The character and traits of a successful entrepreneur is key at this stage. The state must through
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) lead the way in identifying farming businesses in
their start-up stages and building and inculcating entrepreneurial spirits in them. At this stage
farmers must know that the success of an enterprise depends on the early sacrifices they are
prepared to make. Again the risks associated with every farming business must be carefully
evaluated and through support from the State, farmers will work to gradually overcome the
risk. A major survival factor is how revenues are able to balance with cost. Farmers must be
told to be particularly interested in breaking-even and overtime when they are able to
understand ways of cutting cost in a prudent way and creating established and sustained
markets for their produce they will begin to realize the benefits of their investments. The State
has a key role to play in this survival stage. Farmers who show the attitude to remain in
business must be encouraged and supported so that there will be more farm business start-ups
that make the transition through survival to growth.
Ensuring growth and sustainability of the farming business
Beyond survival, farm businesses must grow. Growth will come from two factors but one will
be a consequence of the other. If farmers are able to find increasing and expanding markets for
their produce, then they will also increase their acreage or the total land under cultivation. Farm
businesses can grow through deliberate policy interventions. First is to ensure that we eat what
we grow (domestication) and second is to encourage farmers to even target markets beyond
Ghana. Ghana currently has a school feeding programme and also all students in public
boarding schools are fed three times daily. Through the purchasing power of the state for
instance, farmers are already going to be assured of ready markets for their produce. Whatever
supply chain bottlenecks that farming businesses have must be removed through policy.
Markets beyond Ghana must be identified. Take China for instance where as a result of
increasing population, arable agricultural products are becoming increasingly difficult to come
by especially in urban China, to the extent that Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) is fast
becoming an option for the Chinese people in order to scale-up production. Ghana can easily
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take advantage of these export market to export grains of all kinds. Training programmes must
also point to farmers how managing their businesses in the growth stage should for instance be
done in order to forever remain successful in running those businesses.
Building the managerial and skills capacity of farm business owners
At every stage in the life of a farm business, capacity building is extremely important. MOFA
must spearhead the process of building the capacity of small-holder farmers in business
management. And through the work of Agricultural extension officers there should be
continuous monitoring to ensure that what they are taught or they learn is implemented. The
skills and capacities of small-holder farmers along basic farm management in terms of good
record keeping, marketing management, basic financial management and personnel
management will be very much needed.
Basic farm management will help farmers to protect and secure their farms so that whatever
yields that is expected are gotten. They will understand issues of the changing climate and how
to factor that into their production plans and decisions. Marketing management will ensure
that they understand the dynamics of the market and the changing behavior of consumers and
how their produce can target various markets across the Ghana. In basic financial management
they would understand issues of cash flow, how profits are determined and balance sheet issues
all in basic terms that farmers can understand. As the farm business is growing, they will have
to engage some more people in various activities on the farm lands. Farmers must know how to
manage and lead these people in ways that they can retain them and continue to get the
possible best out of them.
Ensuring effective land management
According to Kahan (2012) the foundation of most farm-based businesses is land. While it is
tempting to produce as much as possible over the short-term, a successful farmer-entrepreneur
knows that the value of the land lies in its ability to continue producing profitably for
generations. Sustaining land is a key element of the long-term success of the farm business.
Integral to an Agricultural entrepreneurial policy must be the issue of land management. With
changes in the climate and the attendant problem of arable Agricultural land being lost by the
day, it is imperative that effective land management is prioritized. There is the tendency for
farmers to worry about producing enough to meet increasing demand and in the process make
the needed profits without thinking about how land should be effectively managed so as to
ensure the long term sustainability of their businesses. However, if promoted wisely, increased
incomes could be the best guarantee for sustainable land use. Making profits enables farmers to
re-invest profits in soil fertility, conserve natural resources, and look for and use appropriate
technologies. It can also enable them to diversify production for local or domestic markets. The
longer the land is productive, the longer the profits will continue (Kahan, 2012).
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Extension services as an ongoing exercise
To cap it all, as part of a broader national entrepreneurial policy, the component on Agriculture
must incorporate the need for extension services. All the policy recommendations talked about
in the above cannot be accomplished without effective support and monitoring. Left alone, a
farmer-entrepreneur who has been encouraged into venturing into Agriculture will give up if
he/she faces the slightest difficulty. But this can be avoided if farmers have people they can talk
to immediately when there is a problem and the person provides some expert knowledge on
what should be done. Farmer business men and women should see extension officers as
partners who are there to help them grow their businesses. Extension services should identify
the specific needs of farmers and function out timely solutions to them. Unfortunately, the
extension support that use to be given to farmers is no more. If Ghana will be serious in turning
farmers into successful entrepreneurs then this services must be brought back.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENUERSHIP
An understanding of Entrepreneurship in the way that it stands, gives only the impression of
pursuing a viable business idea that leads to the realization of economic value. But what if a
business idea has both an economic and social value? The emergence of social entrepreneurship
emphasizes an innovative business idea or initiative that does not only intend the attainment of
some economic objectives but more importantly social objectives. By economic value or
economic objectives we mean an entrepreneurial initiative that leads to the creation of wealth.
An entrepreneurial project that intends social objectives must as well intend some economic
objectives so that it will have the capacity to pursue its social objectives on a more sustainable
basis.
According to Drayton (2002), Social entrepreneurs see something in society that is stuck, that is
not working and envision a systemic change that will allow them to shift society to a new and
better way. They have a drive that will not stop until it is done. Meanwhile Roberts and Woods
(2005) defines Social entrepreneurship as ‚The construction, evaluation, and pursuit of
opportunities for transformative social change carried out by visionary, passionately dedicated
individuals.‛ For social entrepreneurs, the social mission is explicit and central, which is the
basis upon which they assess opportunities as against the more traditional or business
Entrepreneur. For them there is a mission and how that mission is impacted remain the
criterion and not wealth creation. Whilst social entrepreneurs simply find wealth creation as an
end to a means, the means being the social mission, business entrepreneurs find wealth creation
as the only means to an end (Dees, 2001).
Dees (2001), provides a more comprehensive and apt description of the roles of social
entrepreneurs which is widely referred to in the academic literature regarding social
entrepreneurship. Dee’s perspective incorporates both a social need and a wealth creation need.
But the balance as will be expected is towards the social dimension.
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Social entrepreneurs play the role of change agents in the social sector, by:
i. Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value),
ii. Recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission,
iii. Engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning,
iv. Acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand, and
v. Exhibiting heightened accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes
created
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines social
enterprises as ‚any private activity conducted in the public interest, organized with an
entrepreneurial strategy, but whose main purpose is not the maximization of profit but the
attainment of certain economic and social goals, and which has the capacity for bringing
innovative solutions to the problems of social exclusion and unemployment‛ (OECD, 1999). It
will therefore go without saying that the social entrepreneur is responsible for a social
enterprise.
All the perspectives from Drayton, Roberts and Woods to Dees as well as the OECD definition
of a social enterprise makes it certain that any Nation that contemplates a national
entrepreneurship policy must necessarily incorporate social entrepreneurship. As a developing
nation, Ghana is confronted with development challenges in the areas of education, Health care
delivery, sanitation management, housing, unemployment and social exclusion. A successful
implementation of a social entrepreneurship policy remains crucial in ameliorating most of
these developmental challenges.
Social enterprises are also important not only for their capacity to create jobs and as central
players in fighting social exclusion, but enhancing local social capital and supporting
democratic participation, delivering good quality welfare services and furthering more
inclusive economic development (OECD, 2013).
Benefits of social entrepreneurship
Broadly speaking, social entrepreneurship as a component of a National entrepreneurship
policy can envisage the following benefits:
i. Social entrepreneurship as a means for promoting endogenous development
Endogenous Development can be understood as localized change that is essentially initiated
from within communities, mobilizes and harnesses local resources and retain benefits within
the locality. It consists of a set of collective capacities to undertake local initiatives that are
determined, led, and controlled by local people and communities, to improve well-being that
draws from both internal and external resources. Endogenous development is based on local
peoples own criteria of development, and takes into account not just the material, but also the
social, cultural and spiritual well-being of peoples. On the other hand social enterprises are
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borne out of social needs of which the pursuit of an economic activity can directly or indirectly
overcome that social need. Endogenous development will therefore be better served through
social entrepreneurship and this makes the two inseparable.
ii. Engaging the hardcore unemployed
The unemployment situation in Ghana is worrying given especially that a multitude of
graduates from the Nation’s tertiary institutions without any job to do. Social enterprises can be
a major source to reducing the spate of unemployment. Across the lengths and breaths of
Ghana is easy to find viable community economic activities that can be promoted in order to
become successful social enterprises. Social enterprises do not require huge capital outlays.
This is because there are no strict requirements for profitability and there is a lot of leverage and
flexibility in the hands of the social entrepreneur. The resources needed to be successful are
within and contained in the community and what the entrepreneur needs is the attitude to spot
the opportunity and become innovative in his/her pursuits towards success. For a lot of young
people without enough business experience, social entrepreneurship can be an avenue not only
to create jobs for themselves and others but to make an overall impact on the development of
society.
iii. Broader citizenry involvement in the National development effort
Development is proven to be successful when it is all inclusive. All the benefits associated with
social enterprises leads to overall national development. Promoting social enterprises is a way
of ensuring that individuals and communities take ownership of development policy. They
become part of a broader national development effort where their contributions are welcomed
and treated as very important. Once these efforts and contributions yield desirable National
development objectives, everybody becomes part of the process and also become a beneficiary.
Social entrepreneurship will therefore lead to not only economic inclusion but democratic
inclusion.
iv. Creating more fiscal space as the burden on the state in investing in the social sector
will reduce considerably.
Governments all over the World have the ultimate goal of pursuing policies and programmes
that leads to the improvements in the standards of living of its people. Key responsibilities of
Government are enhancing the provision of social services such as education, health and
sanitation and portable drinking water. But governments also have the responsibility of
improving upon infrastructure in order to create a measure of comfort for its citizenry. It has to
be acknowledged that given all the developmental needs of the people, governments alone
cannot soldier the responsibility. By promoting the setting up of social enterprises, government
efforts in the key sectors mentioned above is better complimented. The management of social
enterprises will yield both economic and social benefits and this will free-up resources for the
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State to think about other areas that needs more attention and investment in order to accelerate
the process of national development.
v. Sustaining social enterprises
Mostly in Ghana, social interventions are unable to stand the test of time largely because of the
lack of sustainable means of financing. When the funders and donors of such social
interventions pull back their support, then the social programme tend to suffer. There are
numerous examples of NGOs that have had to fold up by virtue of their sponsors pulling back
their support after some time. An innovative way of dealing with this challenge and providing
full live to social intervention programmes is through social enterprises. Given that social
enterprises have objectives that cut across both social and economic dimensions, it means that if
social interventions such as what pertains in the NGO environment were to succeed on a more
sustainable basis, running social enterprises alongside the social interventions will make the
social interventions more sustainable.
Areas to consider in the social entrepreneurship component
i. Promoting the course of social entrepreneurship
Given all the economic and social problems that confront Ghana, promoting social
entrepreneurship must become a priority. There is greater understanding about
entrepreneurship to mean only what is described as business entrepreneurship. The first point
of call in a National entrepreneurship policy should be intense public education and
sensitization regarding different forms of entrepreneurship. The media, educational institutions
and civil society should be used as the medium through which the citizenry can be reached
with conversations surrounding social entrepreneurship. The level of education and awareness
about matters of social entrepreneurship in Ghana is very low. Even academic research in the
area shows that it is still at a very infant stage. As an important first step in a national
entrepreneurship policy that identifies social entrepreneurship as a critical component is the
need for massive public education and awareness.
ii. The legal and regulatory framework
Because of the nature of underdevelopment in Ghana especially in the Northern half of the
country, there are so many Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) who simply depend on charity donations normally from philanthropists
in Europe and America. The policy shift immediately should be that all these organizations
should develop viable social enterprise projects and programmes that should be pursued
alongside their social interventions. This will ensure that the social objectives for which they
are established remains whilst they pursue economic objectives as well. This should inform the
legislation surrounding the establishment of NGOs and CBOs in the country. Apart from the
fact that it ensures these organizations pursue economic objectives alongside their social
objectives; their interventions can be more sustainable than they are currently. It will ensure
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sanity in the NGO environment as real genuine Non-Governmental Organizations will be
allowed to operate. As it stands now any tom, dick and harry gets up and establish an NGO
only with the intension of attracting charity donations without really undertaking any
intervention. The NGO environment is currently poorly regulated. Demanding that they
establish and pursue social enterprises alongside will sift out the non-serious ones.
iii. Incentivizing social enterprises
Because of the lack of awareness about what social entrepreneurship is all about, for which
reason there are hardly social enterprises across Ghana. It is important for the State to play a
lead role in helping and encouraging people to set up social enterprises. There should be
rewards for people who embark on social enterprises to serve as means of attracting other
people. Individuals who embark on a mission of setting social enterprise(s) should be
supported from the start-up stages to build the necessary structures to a level where it can stand
on its own. MMDAs should play the role of identifying such enterprises in their localities and
evaluating their plans to establish their needs and providing the appropriate support.
iv. Providing training to build capacity of social enterprises
The very skills and knowhow that traditional entrepreneurs need are about the same skills and
knowhow that social entrepreneurs needs. Training is even more important for the social
entrepreneur given that he/she focuses on two objectives. That is objectives of both social and
economic nature. Financial management, marketing management, human resources
management are the management skills social entrepreneurs must acquire. But because of the
social dimensions of their endeavor, it is important that their training needs must also address
issues of endogenous and community development as well as Social Issues Management (SIM).
v. Provide access to markets
Social entrepreneurs are extremely concerned about access to markets. Unlike traditional or
business entrepreneurs who set out to develop their own niche markets, the emergence of a
social enterprise first of all is out of a social need. Whatever goods or services that the social
enterprise produces may not result in having access to ready markets at all times. Here, the
state must use its purchasing power to promote social enterprises by being a procurer of goods
and services that results from social enterprises. Take for example public basic schools buying
chalk produced by a social enterprise established by the Association of the physically
challenged. Or a community school that buys it food items from a cooperative of women who
are also into food crop production.
ENTREPRENUERIAL POLICY ON EDUCATION
An entrepreneurial policy must require certain fundamental changes and policy shifts in
Ghana’s educational system. Because entrepreneurial drive hinges on skills, knowhow and
more importantly positive attitudes in order to be successful, an educational system that lacks
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these ingredients will not result in the most desirable success. This section provides an
overview of the nature of entrepreneurial education within the larger Ghanaian educational
landscape. After which we will provide what should constitute the aims and objectives of
entrepreneurship education. This section will conclude with a proposed framework on how
entrepreneurial education can be implemented.
Ghana’s Educational Landscape
The educational system in Ghana is largely grammar-type. Grammar-type education does not
lend itself to entrepreneurial initiatives. At the basic level of education, reforms upon reforms
envisaged the setting up of technical workshops in order that some technical and vocational
training was fused into the curriculum so that pupils after leaving basic school would have been
imbued with some skills which will make them employable or capable of setting-up their own
businesses. Unfortunately this has only remained on paper at the very best and what parents
and educational authorities have prioritized in as far as the education of children is concern is to
do with one that is grammar-type. This is all theory and reproducing what is taught in the
classroom and to pass an exam that moves the child simply from one stage to another. What
pertains at the second-cycle level is not different. Vocational and Technical institutions that
exist in Ghana have only become the reserve of those who are unable to gain admission into the
grammar-type secondary or senior high schools. Apart from the lack of priority on technical
and vocational education as well as education not just being practical enough, even the
theoretical based system does not include entrepreneurship at the basic and second-cycle levels.
At the tertiary level, Ghana runs a binary educational system that is made up of University
education and Polytechnic education. Whilst the universities are supposed to prioritize
research, Polytechnic education is supposed to develop capable, competent, middle level
manpower that will serve the pertinent needs of industry. It is envisaged that Polytechnic
graduates will be imbued with professional, technical and vocational competencies that will
enable them make a contribution to economic growth either as employees of other
organizations or creators of jobs that can absorb other people. Unfortunately this has not gone
exactly according to plan as the Polytechnics are virtually mimicking the system of education
that University education already provides. This leaves both the University and Polytechnic
graduates virtually as seekers of jobs and not creators of jobs and this is the cause of Ghana’s
huge graduate unemployment rate.
Aims and Objectives of Entrepreneurial Education
Quality education at all levels in contemporary times must reflect the acquisition of knowledge
and skills and the ability to practice. A careful balance must be achieved across all three in
order to ensure the complete development of the individual. The requirement of
entrepreneurial education is not different. The following objectives should therefore constitute
the cornerstone of entrepreneurial education:
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i. Entrepreneurial education must aim at developing the conceptual, creative and
analytical abilities of the individual in ways that they can engage in the process of
thinking through and developing ideas that are innovative and implementable.
ii. Entrepreneurial education must build peoples capacities to be able to document their
innovative ideas in a logical, coherent and understandable manner and must have the
ability to convince several others to believe in their ideas and lend support to ensure the
successful implementation of the idea.
iii. Entrepreneurial education must also lead to the ability of the individual to mobilize all
factors of production that is the capital, the human resource and the individual
entrepreneur being able to combine these factors in the best possible way towards
success.
iv. Entrepreneurial education must lead to the individual understanding of how theory can
be linked with practice and each dimension must be treated a key component of the
educational process.
v. Entrepreneurial education must lead to building the leadership and management skills
of the individual in ways that he/she can participate in a team and remain an effective
team player.
What a national education policy should consider regarding entrepreneurship
According to the European Commission (2012), entrepreneurship education can be seen as
comprising a dual approach: (i) it can be ‘mainstreamed’ into the curriculum, at all levels, where
it tends to focus on general competences such as creativity, initiative and self-reliance and (ii) It
can also be taught as a component of a separate subject, typically from the upper secondary
level onwards. It tends to have a stronger focus on learning the skills and know-how of setting
up and running a business and to be an elective rather than mandatory part of the curriculum
(EC, 2012)
Accordingly, Ghana can prioritize the cultivation of traits such as creativity, initiative, self-
reliance and self-confidence in young people by fusing these elements into the curriculum at the
basic and second cycle levels of education. Once these traits are inculcated from childhood the
preparedness of young people to undertake entrepreneurial initiatives will be a matter of course
but also a choice to do so or not. It will not therefore be because the individual lacks the spirit
to do so. Doing this will require fundamental shifts in the teaching and learning methods
currently in place at the basic level of education and even the teacher-pupil relationships will
also require some changes. Facilitation and coaching for instance will have to be employed in
most cases as methods of learning instead of teaching.
At the tertiary level, the binary system as it exists must work and should be enforced to the
latter. Research must remain the objectives of university education. Polytechnics must keep to
their focus of applied science, technical and vocational education. Some courses at the
Universities must incorporate entrepreneurship as part of the curriculum. But at the
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Polytechnics, all courses must be made to incorporate entrepreneurship as a core course
necessarily fused into the curriculum. However, the studying of entrepreneurship especially at
the Polytechnics must go beyond the classroom. Facilitation and coaching should be the
methods used. And entrepreneurial education must emphasize internships for students’ right
from the first year of enrollment up to completion. The current practice where students
undertake industrial attachment only once during their stay in school is not good enough. If
Ghana can introduce these few changes within its current educational architecture then we can
anticipate the next generation where more young people become creators of jobs and not
seekers of jobs.
FUNDING AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Funding
Our experience with individuals with innovative business ideas has always been that despite
the good ideas they have, they are unable to find funding. Apart from developing the attitude
of personal savings which in itself is a demonstration of entrepreneurial spirit in order to
support start-ups to accelerate the course of entrepreneurship in Ghana, there is the need for a
greater state involvement. Encouraging the habits of personal savings should form a major part
of entrepreneurial training.
In the whole equation of state support we propose a funding mechanism along two dimensions:
1) Funding for start-ups
Start-ups have the difficulty of attracting funding on their own largely because of the lack of
business history. Left on their own they are mostly unable to mobilize capital from funding
institutions who especially also trade with their funds. Through training and capacity
building as already indicated in previous sections, individuals and institutions can develop
the attitudes, entrepreneurial and managerial skills needed to be successful. But the
involvement of the state should be providing direct funding support to viable start-ups on a
pay-back basis. This funding can be in the form of training, procuring needed materials,
equipment’s or gadgets to make the entrepreneurial idea or initiative operational. This can
go on for a period depending on the nature of the business idea. Priority should be given to
entrepreneurial initiatives involving economic and socially marginalized groups such as the
youth, women and the physically challenged. And this should also include social
enterprises. This is because entrepreneurial initiatives involving these segments of society
have suffered the most in as far as access to funding is concerned.
2) Funding for all other entrepreneurial businesses
For all other entrepreneurial initiatives that have existed on their own and will need further
funding, going forward; they should be encouraged to resort to the commercial finance
market to raise their capital needs. Through the liberalization of Ghana’s financial sector
there has been the proliferation of Bank and Non-Bank financial institutions that have
developed and tailored various financial products to meet the needs of the Ghanaian
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economy. Financial institutions have a broad based portfolio of services that suits corporate
financing, SME financing, Agricultural financing, and export trade.
Apart from an established business history, financial institutions have other requirements
such as the provision of security for the credits and high interest rates that have often made
access to funding on the commercial market rather prohibitive. In order to support
entrepreneurial initiatives that are considered viable and are near perfect in terms of
success, we propose the provision of financial guarantees to back the credits applications of
already existing entrepreneurial initiatives that are often unable to meet the security
requirements of the financial commercial markets.
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
a) A unitized state funding system
Ghana has too many state institutions that are responsible for providing funding to
businesses and entrepreneurial initiatives. The Micro Finance and Small Loans Schemes
(MASLOC) provide funding to small scale businesses across Ghana. The Export
Development Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) specializes in export trade, local
investment and agricultural funding. The Skills and Innovation Fund (SIF) provides
funding for training and building the capacity of local entrepreneurs. The Youth Enterprise
Support Fund (YES) was established purposely for providing support to the entrepreneurial
initiatives of young people.
Notwithstanding the existence of these funding institutions, a lot leaves much to be desired
in as far as access to credit facilities by entrepreneurs is concerned. Some of these funding
institutions have been saddled with problems of under recovery and in some cases
accusations of not really targeting the people who really need support. It is our considered
opinion that there should be a harmonization of all these funding institutions into one
unitized system to ensure efficiency and effectiveness and also proper accountability. The
unitized system can be called Ghana Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF). This will create a bigger
financial portfolio with necessary management and administrative structures across all ten
regions and 118 administrative districts of Ghana and the GEF should have the mandate of
attending to all entrepreneurial needs. It will be based on the GEF that support should be
given to starts-ups and credit guarantees provided to already existing entrepreneurial
initiatives as indicated earlier.
b) An agency to coordinate the implementation of a national entrepreneurial policy
The mere fact that in the area of youth employment, Ghana has seen the National Youth
Employment Programme (NYEP) changed to Ghana Youth Employment and
Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA), which has also now changed to
Youth Employment Agency (YEA), is ample testimony of the policy inconsistencies and
the forward and backward movements we have adopted when it comes to creating jobs
for the youth in Ghana. If a national entrepreneurship policy is to succeed, its multi
sectorial nature will require an agency or institution that coordinates efforts from all
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sectors of the economy. We therefore propose the establishment of an agency, whichever
name it will be called, but should have the responsibility for the overall management
and implementation of the National entrepreneurship policy. However, the current
arrangement where politicians are made to manage GYEEDA/YEA/NYEP from the
national to the district levels is wrong and must be halted immediately if the
implementation of a national entrepreneurial policy is to be a success. Individuals
employed to head the proposed new agency at the various levels must be professionals
with expertise in entrepreneurship and management.
CONCLUSION
Undeniably, entrepreneurship remains one prominent avenue that Ghana can ride on its back to
glory. For economic growth, job creation, wealth creation, provision of goods and services to
meet local demand, creating an exporting economy and human capital development,
policymakers in Ghana cannot relent on their ores to facilitate entrepreneurial growth and
support. Policy on entrepreneurship is eminent and this is the time that Ghana and its
policymakers should create fora that can provide the push for entrepreneurial policy to restore
Ghana to the growth and development path that was envisioned more than fifty (50) years ago.
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