Tema, Dec. 20, GNA— Mr Samuel Akoetey, Director for Business, Centre for Greater Impact Africa, has called on the Government to support women business owners as agents of the rapid transformation of developing economies.
“Women form the greater percentage of the Ghanaian population; scientific data show that women’s economics covers a broader spectrum, including the family, social interventions and other related fields.
“Therefore, empowerment of women covers all these social brackets. Support for women goes beyond the immediate to affect others and would serve as means for poverty reduction,” Mr Akoetey said.
Mr Akoetey made the suggestion when members of the Centre for Greater Impact Africa took their turn at the Ghana News Agency Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom discussion platform.
Mr Akoetey explained that more than 44 per cent of women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises in Ghana, which contributed to the Gross Domestic Product in the country.
He, however, advised that the government needed to train women in modern commerce terms to ensure that they would be able to understand and use funds provided to expand their businesses.
He believed the lack of education was what made women reluctant to opt for funding to expand their businesses.
“Women need to be educated about how the loan processes work and how to go about using it,” Mr Akoetey said.
He asserted that the government’s idea of granting loans to entrepreneurs was a good effort, but the training was paramount.
“If women are not more schooled about the financial-economic systems, the processes for acquiring loans or grants would put them off,” Mr Akoetey observed.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Tema Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency noted that the Agency “remained the mother of all media organisations in Ghana.”
He revealed that the GNA has over the years maintained its branded image of dissemination of accurate, truthful, balanced and credible news for public consumption.
Mr Ameyibor stated that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled media organisations, including GNA to devise a new strategy to engage stakeholders for newsgathering and dissemination rather than the mediaeval routine model of waiting for events.
The GNA Tema Regional Manager noted that the Tema Office of the Agency is placing value on news anchored on the news source, the target recipient, the reporter, and the media house.
“All these four personalities places value on the news, which must be considered and factored into the news preparation and dissemination”.
He explained that the media must ensure that it periodically undertakes value for news analysis to ensure that all factors of news are satisfied at all times.
“That’s the only way to remain relevant in the fast-changing information, communication and technological world,” Mr Ameyibor said.
Mr Ameyibor said the GNA is focused on disseminating undiluted news.