adrri journal of arts and social sciences

ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

pISSN: 2343-6891 ISSN-L: 2343-6891

VOL. 13, No.1 (2), April, 2015

Published by Africa Development and Resources Research Institute

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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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