Author: Beyonce Diamond Kpogli
With support from German Cooperation, 74 Ghanaian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have benefited from the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) training programme.
The aim was to increase SMEs’ productivity and resource efficiency, thereby creating jobs and improving working conditions.
The training programme, which began in August 2022, was now signed off with a certification ceremony to mark the official closure of the programme in Accra.
SCORE is a global programme that seeks to improve workplace organisation, cooperation, and safety in SMEs and promotes resource-efficient and cleaner production.
The training combines practical classroom sessions with in-factory consulting and demonstrates the best international practices in the manufacturing and service sectors. This ultimately leads to the growth of enterprises, job creation and economic development.
The SCORE training programme was implemented by the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI), a sub-vented agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), within the framework of the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition”, which also operates under the brand Invest for Jobs.
In 2021, GIZ Ghana, under the Invest for Jobs programme, signed a first grant agreement with the MDPI to train 90 SMEs in the SCORE programme. This year’s project closure and certification ceremony celebrated the successful second cooperation project between MDPI and
Invest for Jobs for the SCORE programme implementation, which trained 74 additional SMEs and extended the training measure to two new regions (Ashanti and Eastern).
Speaking at the event on 2nd May 2023 in Accra, the Team Leader of Invest for Jobs, Mr John Duti, stated that “there is a clear paradigm shift towards environmental sustainability, green economy, green growth, and green jobs.
This green agenda is heavily embedded in the core message of the SCORE programme: improving productivity through resource efficiency and cleaner production.”
Mr. Duti further expressed his expectations of the SMEs to leverage the knowledge received to boost their productivity and contribute significantly to the growth of the country as they serve as the backbone of Ghana’s economy.
“I expect that this programme will have a long-lasting impact on your productivity, and very soon, we will count several jobs created and improvements in the livelihoods of your employees; he said.
On the other hand, the SMEs expressed their appreciation to the German government for the training programme and highlighted some of the impacts it has started to have on their businesses:
“For me, the 5S Model (sort; set in order; scrub/shine; standardise; and sustain) was the most interesting aspect of the training. I even transferred what I learned for my business to my personal life, and I see tremendous improvements,” said Diana Akwaboa Bosompem, Founder and Chief Executive of cosmetic company 360 Naturals.
About the Management Development and Productivity Institute
MDPI is a subvented agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR). The institute was established on 26th October 1967 under a joint Ghana Government, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) project.
The MDPI replaced its forerunner, the National Productivity Centre (NPC), which had been established in June 1964. The institute was formally handed over to the government by UNDP and ILO in 1977 when the joint sponsorship ended. MDPI promotes increased productivity in both public and private organizations and contributes to the sustainable growth of the economy.
It achieves this through productivity improvement activities, management development programs and dissemination of information through research and publications.
The MDPI’s clients are drawn from Ghana and the West African sub-region including The Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Guinea. For more information, please visit www.mdpi.gov.gh.
