REP Organizes Zonal Start-up and Sensitisation Workshops for Municipal and District Assemblies

Municipal and district assemblies in the country have been sensitized on the new Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) at four separate workshops in Elmina, Tamale and Sunyani.  Participants of the workshops included Chief Executives (M/DCEs), Coordinating Directors (M/DCD), Staff of Business Advisory Centres (BACs) and other staff of the assemblies. Three of the workshops were both start-up and sensitisation workshops and were organised for districts and municipal assemblies that did not take part in the Rural Enterprises Project Phases I and II (REP-I and II).  The new districts were grouped into three zones of Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Western regions; Central, Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta regions; and Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.

The purpose of the workshop was to inform the participants about the Programme and eligibility selection criteria of prospective districts, and share common expectations from the REP’s intervention. These workshops became necessary following the upscale of the REP-I and II, into the current national programme, covering 161 Municipal and District Assemblies in the country.  

The Trade and Industry Minister, Hon. Hannah Tetteh, addressed the participants of all four workshops. Ms. Tetteh said REP is part of the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Private Sector Development Strategy II to foster the development of sustainable corporate strategies for enterprise growth and job creation and aid in rural poverty reduction.

“The contribution of micro and small enterprises to employment, growth and sustainable development is now widely acknowledged.  Micro and small enterprises have been duly recognised as a major source of economic growth and have provided countless job opportunities to people living in the rural areas. Starting and expanding a micro or small business, is one of the most promising and sustainable routes of improving the standards of living in our communities.   The benefits of micro and small enterprises are far reaching and powerful and my Ministry through the Rural Enterprises Programme is targeting them as a way of making a contribution to improving the living standards in the rural communities” Ms. Tetteh stated.

She explained that the successes achieved in the 66 participating assemblies of REP-I and II encouraged the Government of Ghana to upscale the project to 161 districts under a new Rural Enterprises Programme (REP). Ms. Tetteh said micro and small-scale businesses in the 66 beneficiary districts had seen tremendous and rapid development, providing job opportunities to people living in rural areas thereby improving upon their standards of living.

The Trade and Industry Minister urged the district assemblies to embrace REP to propel the growth of enterprises and micro-businesses at the rural level. “REP is therefore giving the opportunity to all municipal and  district assemblies to participate and develop a sustainable district based micro and small enterprise support system  for rural enterprise development, job creation and improvement in livelihoods and income”, She said.

Ms Tetteh, however, cautioned that in order to benefit from the Programme, the prospective assemblies must demonstrate full committed to the implementation of REP. They should also ensure that REP is mainstreamed into the district assembly structure as part of government’s decentralisation process.

To qualify for enrolment into REP, prospective districts must do the following: provide at least two room furnished office accommodation for the establishment of an implementing unit; and recruit at people with local knowledge to work at the implementing units. They should also establish a Sub Committee on MSE promotion to coordinate   all initiatives on the development and growth of enterprises in the district; and be prepared to meet part of the recurrent cost of the from the second year of enrollment.

The National Programme Director of REP, Mr. Kwasi Attah-Antwi, gave an overview of the Programme and its linkage with REP-I and II which were implemented from 1995 to 2011. He mentioned that the total cost of the Programme is US$185 million and is being financed by the Government of Ghana (GOG), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and African Development Bank (AfDB). The REP district-based model for MSE promotion will continue to be used for programme implementation, He explained. The model is made up of the following implementing units: Business Advisory Centres (BACs), Rural Technology Facilities (RTFs) and Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) which include rural community banks and the ARB Apex Bank.

Mr Attah-Antwi, said the success of the Programme will depend on the acceptability, leadership, ownership and commitment shown by beneficiary districts and appealed to the beneficiaries to maintain the same motivation and commitment to enable them to have the full benefit of the REP.

The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, in an address read for him at the Tamale workshop described REP as a development channel that the various assemblies could use to better the lives of the people. He added that “As part of implementation of the Programme, the Regional Coordination Council would provide backstopping to the districts through the Regional Committee on MSE Promotion”. This would ensure that the new districts participated effectively to improve the livelihood of the people.

Other participants of the workshops were officials of Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Central and Brong Ahafo Regional Coordinating Councils. Others were from the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI), Local Government Services and Methodist Development and Relief Services (MDRS).