The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has marked the Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration with the signing of agreements with some partners to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), targeting young women entrepreneurs.

The Project which is part of the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works Project  seeks to leverage the services of the Association of Ghana Industries, Ghana Tech lab, Shehub and the Intelligent Capital to mentor and provide additional skills to micro businesses to transform into large ones.

The Executive Director of NBSSI, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh believes these new partnerships will help the Agency to hit its target of creating employment to 39,000 youth.

The agreement was also used to cement the relationship between the NBSSI and some other partners in accelerating the growth of MSMEs across the country.

“We are keen on maintaining a sustainable relationship that seeks to transform youthful businesses especially women led. It is at the heart of the NBSSI to include other stakeholders and partners along this journey of growth” She noted.

She therefore concludes that “Under the Young Africa Works Project, NBSSI envisages that effective collaboration with partners will help make the work much easier and also to achieve the overall goal of the Project.

“It is on this premise that, we have decided today as we celebrate the Global Entrepreneurship Week and whiles encouraging entrepreneurship around the world, we have seized the opportunity to sign our Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with our relevant Project Partners to seal our partnerships and continue to chart the development agenda of the nation”.

Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries, AGI, Seth Twum Akwaboah on his part hinted that as an industry led association with many SMEs, any objective of supporting the sector is of critical interest to the AGI as they prepare for many more international opportunities.

He also used the occasion to advise SMEs to be competitive in order to take greater advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) earmarked to start in January 2021.

Ghana Tech Lab, She hub and Intelligent Capital also declared their support for the partnership and their commitment to ensure that small scale enterprises benefit from the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works initiative.