Making the donation of Embracing Your Inner Courage, the CEO of Tradeline Consult, Ghana Branch, Mr Sam Zeph Atiemo extolled the importance of the ENGINE programme in re-defining the scope of entrepreneurship by bringing it closer to indigenes.

He said: “ENGINE is the solution to practically and sustainably develop entrepreneurs in the country and must be supported by stakeholders to ensure success.”   Mr Atiemo commended the passion and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs towards building sustainable businesses, adding that it required adequate support for their passions to be scaled-up into innovative business operations.

The Tradeline CEO was one of the judges during the business pitch events, which investigated and determined the viability of the participating businesses from Accra, Kumasi and Tamale.   He challenged the awardees to be more innovative in developing robust business models and make profitability inevitable since this was what most investors look out for.

Tradeline Consult expressed interest in investing directly into some of the businesses that won the awards through its partner company BUFIA Investment Limited.  It is a venture capital financing company that provides entrepreneurs with the best possible resources including investment, training, networking, enterprise development, and mentorship – to help turn their innovative ideas into profitable businesses.

 The Acting Country Director of TechnoServe, Mr Samuel Baba Adongo talked about the challenges faced by entrepreneurs including poor record-keeping.

He commended the women entrepreneurs and urged them to keep improving themselves in spite of the challenges of limited access to finance and investment support in addition to limited access to raw materials.  ENGINE is a multi-year project implemented by TechnoServe with funding from the UK through the Department for International Development.

 It seeks to equip Micro and Small Enterprises with the necessary skills and resources to improve their business plans and internal operations, while creating a thriving community of entrepreneurs through increased access to business development services and financing. The managing partner of Tradeline Consult, Mr Forster Gomashie pledged his firm's commitment to contributing strategically towards developing entrepreneurship ecosystems to solve some of the major challenges expressed by the awardees through establishment of the Savannah Business Factory, the first of its kind in northern Ghana.

This would house the entrepreneurs and address their business development and investment needs through an Integrated and Sustainable Business Approach. Tradeline Consult is a limited liability company based in Accra-Ghana and Lilongwe-Malawi that offers a variety of business consulting services and training to SMEs with 70 per cent agricultural value chain consulting and 30 per cent non-agric related.