The Sustainable Competitive and Responsible Enterprises, (SCORE) and the Management Development and Productivity Institute, (MDPI) have outlined strategic training measures for targeted Small and Medium Enterprises to undertake in order to sustain their effectiveness.
The special initiative which has been branded as Invest For Jobs is under the implementation of the GIZ and is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Speaking at the launch in Accra on Wednesday, 25th August 2021, the Director-General of the MDPI, Mr. Kweku Odame-Takyi revealed the eligibility criteria to enable an SME to partake in the workshop.
“We first enlist the entity to ensure that they met the minimum requirements, that is, the number of employees, the potential to grow, export, the gender and the management. After that we do training and after the training, we do factory visitation to ensure they are implementing what we taught them and then report it,” he said.
With over 8 partner African countries, Invest for Jobs will be providing opportunities for SMEs for growth with 250 jobs being created.
Team Leader for Invest for Jobs Ghana, Mr. John Duti highlighted the importance of targeting SMEs for growth.
“One of the components of Invest for Jobs is to strengthen SMEs in Ghana to be competitive, we scale them up and also ensure that they are sustainable. Our program is designed to partner with enterprises to create sustainable jobs and so the SCORE program is our objective that is why we are partnering with MDPI for this initiative,” he stated.
He hinted of expanding the partnership agreement between GIZ and MDPI for more growth sustainability.
“This is the first time that we are partnering with the MDPI and not ILO. So for me, the decision to continue or not to continue with this partnership will be based on what happens out there on the field. If at the end of the day we are able to point out decent jobs created then it gives us the opportunity to continue to partner MDPI,” he said.
The training will focus on enterprises in the Packaging, Manufacturing, Metal Fabrication, Oil, and gas industries.
60 SMEs are expected to receive the first SCORE training and another rotational 20 business continuity and recovery training.
