A Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom Index (REF Index) report commissioned by the Africa Center for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE) in Ghana, has revealed that various entrepreneurship interventions by governments over the years in the country, have not really had an impact on the people, especially across the regions.
The report emphasizes the point that the interventions are not properly targeted to benefit the people equally because of the peculiar nature of every region and therefore the interventions have had very little impact in very unequal measures across the regions because the various regions differ in human capital, entrepreneurial skills and the conducive entrepreneurial environment.
According to the report, 12 out of the 16 regions scored below 5 marks out of a total of 10 marks for entrepreneurship development, where the Eastern region was ranked highest with a score of 6.36 and an interpretation of being moderately free on entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, the Ashanti, Upper West and North East regions which were found to be mostly free for entrepreneurship, scored between 5.50 to 5.25.
The Africa Center for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE) has therefore launched the maiden edition of its Regional Entrepreneurship and Freedom Index (REF Index) report to help policy makers fine tune their policies to suit the entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses of every region to fit the current realities of the times.
Speaking at the launch of the maiden edition of the Regional Entrepreneurship and Freedom Index report at the Stanbic Business Incubator in Accra, the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ACEYE, Emmanuel Aquah, said Government ought to be more concerned with the creation of more conducive environment for entrepreneurs to grow, rather than seeking to intervene in the entrepreneurship space.
“There is so much interventionist approach to a number of things in the country by Government. In as much as we are having these interventionist stuff, let’s ask ourselves, what has been the outcome. We would say the intentions are good, but the outcome, I do not think so,” he said.
He urged Government to leave the entrepreneurial space for the private sector to handle since they better understand what it takes to create businesses.
“The way forward is to free up the entrepreneurial space. We should have institutions which do not become barriers to entrepreneurial growth. Instead, it should become enablers of entrepreneurial growth. If all the approaches by Government in job creation does not lead to wealth creation, it becomes a problem,” he noted.
The CEO added that, “ACEYE is an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the promotion of entrepreneurship and free markets. And that is why the REF Index report explores how entrepreneurial freedom could engender prosperity, address unemployment and reduce poverty across the regions in Ghana.”
Source: Clement Akoloh||africanewsradio.com
