Even as the government sets up Business Resource Centres (BRCs) across all districts and municipalities in the country, Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten has hinted of an establishment of a common public network that will connect the services.

“These BRCs will not be operating in isolation. In fact, there will be a virtual public network to consolidate their services so businesses can access them wherever they are,” he revealed upon inspection of the Bechem BRC in the Tano South district of the Ahafo Region.

With an investment of $8 million, the government argues these BRCs act as the engine for industrial growth and the much talked about One District One Factory (1D1F) projects. 

The BRCs are being financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), through the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. 

This initiative falls in line with the Rural Enterprise Programme’s goal of increasing incomes the incomes and improving the livelihoods of rural entrepreneurs by increasing the numbers of MSEs that generate profits, growth and employment opportunities.

Background

The BRCs are all being equipped with modern IT infrastructure, and networked through a virtual private network, to facilitate efficient delivery of their operations.

In November 2019, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, indicated that “the BRCs will offer support services to contribute to the One-District-One Factory initiative, including adopting a more transformative approach to strategically integrating rural informal smallholder raw material supply base into corporate entities along various commodity value chains that have been identified to be relevant to the 1D1F projects.”

The operations of the BRCs will be regulated by the NBSSI.

The 37 District and Municipalities where the BRCs have been constructed are: Ahafo Ano South West, Asante Akim Central Municipal, Atwima Nwabiagya Municipal, Obuasi Municipal, Sekyere East District, Sekyere South, Ejisu Municipal in the Ashanti Region; Asunafo North Municipal, Atebubu-Amantin Municipal, Dormaa Central Municipal, Tano South Municipal, Techiman Municipal in the Brong Ahafo Region.

Others are Agona West Municipal, Assin Fosu Municipal, Awutu Senya District, and Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem Municipal of the Central Region; Asuogyaman District, East Akim Municipal and Kwaebibirem Municipal of the Eastern Region; and Ada East District, and Weija Gbawe Municipal in the Greater Accra Region.