Change attitude to work — Baffour-Awuah

Story: Samuel Duodu, Sunyani
10/03/08
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, has called on Ghanaians, especially operators of small- scale businesses, to change their working attitude in order to contribute their quota towards national development.
He was addressing a business and financial seminar in Sunyani for more than 40 small and medium-scale enterprise operators in the region.
African Assistant Plan, a Sunyani-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), and Global Business Assist (GBA), a US-based NGO dedicated to empowering the world’s powerless through micro development, jointly organised the seminar.
The participants, comprising farmers, traders, artisans, shopkeepers, among others, were taken through topics such as wealth creation, business building, tracking expenditure and how to take care of workers.  
Mr Baffour-Awuah urged the self-employed to eschew laziness and work hard to ensure the growth of their businesses.
He also asked the youth to grab every good opportunity that would come their way and make profitable use of their time.
He also commended the NGO for its immense support to the region.
The Executive Director of the African Assistant Plan, Bishop David Donkor, said the NGO had, since its establishment in 1996 as a Christian-based organisation, been assisting small and medium entrepreneurs, as well as providing communities with good drinking water, healthcare facilities, among others.
He said all the participants at the seminar would be given financial assistance to expand their businesses.
Bishop Donkor advised people who had the intention to invest to undertake the needed market research before entering into a particular line of business.
He urged operators of small and medium enterprises to promptly pay their taxes to the state and also endeavour to repay loans given to them for the expansion of their businesses so that they would become credit worthy.
The President of the GBA, Mr Douglas Mann, said his organisation was a non-profit one whose goal was to mobilise professionals and community groups to bring business development and relief to the world’s poor.