SE Ghana, others hold dialogue on draft Ghana Social Enterprise Policy
Social Enterprise (SE) Ghana, an advocacy group, is calling on government to adopt and pass the Ghana Social Enterprise Policy to promote the growth of social enterprises in Ghana.
The draft Ghana Social Enterprise Policy defines social enterprise as an organisation that applies business strategies and practices to achieve social and environmental goals which seeks to drive robust economy in the social enterprise subsector.
According to the Executive Director of the SE Ghana, Mr Edwin Zu-Cudjoe, the policy which had been at the draft stage since 2017 and reviewed in 2021 had dwindled their businesses affecting their growth in the country.
Mr Zu-Cudjoe disclosed this at a day’s dialogue organised by SE Ghana in partnership with Accra Technical University, GIZ and British Council, on the draft Ghana Social Enterprise Policy in Accra last Tuesday.
It was on the theme: Developing an inclusive business environment for sustainable development: Do social enterprises require a policy?
The dialogue sought to provide participants with insights on social enterprises, financing of social enterprises, and the current state of the Ghana Social Enterprise Policy and elicit inputs from stakeholders on the need for the adoption of the Ghana Social Enterprise Policy.
Mr Zu-Cudjoe said the policy focused on seven thematic areas namely: regulatory environment, financing for social enterprise, training and capacity building, research, statistics and information, technology and innovation, marketing and procurement of social goods and services, cross-cutting issues- environment and gender.
He said the policy when adopted would bring enormous benefits to the country and the social enterprise ecosystem by addressing the social and environmental challenges such as unemployment, food security, waste management, climate change and maternal and child health issues.
Mr Zu-Cudjoe indicated that social enterprises in the country were faced with enormous challenges, however it had made significant contributions to the social, economic and environmental development of the country.
He said research conducted by SE Ghana indicated that the sector employs more than 800,000 people in the value chain and contributes about US$2.3 billion per annum to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The business in the sector targets the vulnerable communities, being it urban or rural communities to address the challenges we find in these communities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he added.
The Dean of International Programmes at the Accra Technical University, Professor Ernest Winful, in a presentation on the State of Social Enterprises in Ghana, said Ghana had very few social enterprises led by people under 24, saying over 95 per cent social enterprises in Ghana were expected to grow or increase turnover.
He added that about 34.8 per cent of social enterprises in Ghana were into agriculture and they contributed about GH¢2.6 billion to the economy being the largest employers in the informal sector, even though many of those businesses do not identify themselves as social enterprises.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
