USAID Initiative Boosts MSME Growth in Ghana’s Upper West Region.

According to Ghana News Agency:ccording to Ghana News Agency, the MSR Activity also facilitated the process for the beneficiary MSMEs to acquire digital accounts (merchant SIMs) from telecommunication service providers including MTN to enhance their digital marketing efforts. The MSMEs, engaged in processing and producing agricultural produce among others across the region, were also given record books for effective business record keeping.About 300 MSMEs in the USAID Zone of Influence (ZOI) - Northern, Upper West, Upper East, and North East Regions - owned by women, youth, and Persons with Disabilities were expected to benefit from the intervention. Mr Musa Taylor, Capacity Building Team Lead, Ghana MSR Activity, presenting certificates to the participants at the event, said the initiative followed an assessment they conducted in the USAID ZOI, which revealed that most MSMEs within the zone had not registered their businesses. He said MSR recognised the importance of business registration to the developme nt and growth of businesses and certification products hence the need to assist those businesses to acquire the certification.'We expect that when we come back next year to meet these same businesses, we want to see their businesses growing,' he stated. He entreated the beneficiaries to take advantage of the support to expand their businesses to enable them to employ more people to help reduce the unemployment rate in the country. Mr Fidelis Naapaneh, the Upper West Regional Manager of the MSR Activity, observed that the support given to the businesses would enhance their efficiency and operation to serve their customers better and translate to improving their incomes.He urged the MSMEs to take advantage of the support to develop their businesses since it was in the interest of MSR to see their businesses flourishing and their financial status improved. Mr Mubarik Ibrahim of Ghana Standards Authority emphasised the need for the MSMEs to ensure their products met the expected regulatory standards as that w as necessary for them to participate actively in the global market.Mr Zakaria Kamal-Deen, the Wa Municipal Director of the Businesses Resource Centre (BRC), appealed to the MSMEs to take advantage of the business advisory services at the Centre such as business training and capacity buildings to improve their businesses. Some of the beneficiaries, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, expressed gratitude to the Ghana MSR Activity and its sponsors for the intervention as that would meaningfully impact their businesses.Key players in the MSMEs sector and regulatory authorities including the Food and Drugs Authority and representatives from the Ghana Enterprise Agency, Regional Agricultural Directorate, and the National Youth Authority attended the event. The Ghana MSR Activity, funded by the USAID, was aimed at transforming market systems to support agricultural growth and increase resilience in northern Ghana.