Africa Skills Hub in partnership with Norsaac Ghana, Social Enterprise Ghana, and Northern Development Authority organized the Social Enterprise Forum to discuss an action plan for the catalyzation of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem of Ghana’s Northern Region.
Stakeholder also discussed and shared knowledge and expertise on approaches to address the theme with support from Global Affairs Canada funding.
The event is on the theme: “Unlocking the potential for wealth creation in women through Social Enterprising.”
A statement issued in Accra by Mr Emmanuel Leslie Adade, the Co-Founder of Africa Skills Hub, said the Food and Beverage Industry was identified by the Hub as one of the largest sectors for wealth creation for women in Tamale who venture into entrepreneurship as a means to improve their economic livelihoods and provide for their families.
It said the conference, therefore, served as the culmination of a year-long pilot, which looked at addressing sexual violence using new and innovative methods such as an incubator for scaling up northern food innovations, a campaign focused on influencing men to participate in lessening the burden of domestic work on their wives.
There was also a publication of a policy guide to address issues of gender mainstreaming across Ghana´s entrepreneurial policies and a digital as well as a physical marketplace where these female entrepreneurs’ products will be sold.
Mr Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, said the government associated with the forum and theme since investing in building an entrepreneurial culture in the country were critical for national development.
“Building businesses that tackle social problems is a step in the right direction and would be one of the lasting panaceas to most of the issues facing us as a people. I am of this view because such business models tend to be comparatively sustainable in the very long term,” he said.
Madam Anatu Ben-Lawal, the Gender Director at Africa Skills Hub, said the organization choose to take a new approach towards tackling sexual and gender-based violence by elevating the socio-economic status of the northern woman.
“We are living in uncertain times, where the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world of work and the shift in donor funding, which has been long overdue has come to an end,” she said.
She said it was time that Africans rise and begin developing innovative products and models that were self-sustaining and income-generating-the story of the northern woman, because wealth creation was the only sustainable approach that would reduce the vulnerability of women to the various elements that constitute sexual violence.
“Unfortunately, it calls for moving from donor dependency to business-like approaches, which do not always resonate well with people but it is not like we are left with a choice,” she said.
The panellists shared varied views on how to improve the business environment for young entrepreneurs; especially women and discussed the untapped areas of social value creation for the youth in the Northern Region.