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RM begins familiarisation tours to selected institutions

The Upper East Regional Minister, Paulina Patience Abayage has commenced a week-long familiarisation tour to some selected tertiary institutions and business set-ups across the region.

Date Created : 3/15/2019 6:23:25 AM : Story Author : Peter Atogewe Wedam/Ghanadistricts.com

The tours started in the Bolgatanga Municipality on Tuesday March 12, 2019 and are expected to climax next Tuesday, 19th March, 2019 in the Pusiga District.

According to the Regional Minister, these tours are to afford her a personal feel of real-time happenings at the institutions and also expose her to first-hand information that will guide the Regional Coordinating Council’s response to the needs of these institutions. She added that where government sees the need to link up the region’s educational institutions and indigenous businesses to donor agencies and critical development partners, it will not hesitate to do so.

On the first day, the Regional Minister and her team called at the premises of MINSSAP Ventures, a local investor into the production of organic oils from pressed-fruit and tree seeds. This investor produces both edible oils and oils for cosmetic and medicinal purposes from pawpaw seeds, moringa seeds, neem tree seeds, baobab seeds and pumpkin seeds among others. MINSSAP Ventures also produces other products that are catalysts for soap production and animal feed production.

Guiding the Minister and her team through the production process, Chief Executive Officer [CEO] of MINSSAP, Mr. Sylvester Minyila said their oils were purely natural and organic in nature and took lots of time and patience to produce. He told the team that the machines used were highly priced abroad but comparatively, much higher in Ghana so as a result, he could only afford a few at the moment which slows their output. This response came after the Regional Minister had asked him to procure his equipment locally.

Mr. Minyila disclosed that the factory began operations in 2015 and has at present, created direct employment for about seven permanent factory hands and 10 temporal workers. Meanwhile, indirect employment has been given to several hundreds of rural women from within and outside the Bolgatanga area, as they bring in raw materials almost on daily basis for intake.

He however appealed to government to provide financial and technical assistance to businesses like his type as their work by extension, complements government’s job creation agenda. He added that, such intervention will also help in expanding his factory space and enable him to engage more hands. He also appealed to government to identify and secure ready markets for products from indigenous Ghanaian companies.

Hon. Abayage in responding to the concerns raised by the CEO, gave the assurance that government had a plan through the Ministry of Business Development to assist start-ups, small enterprises and medium scale local businesses. She also advised the CEO of MINSSAP to submit a proposal to the “One District, One Factory” Secretariat as there could be some tremendous support coming to his factory upon a favourable consideration.

The Regional Minister’s second and last point of call in the day took her to the Bolgatanga Smock Market where she was conducted round the cluster of stores and later had interactions with the leadership of the weavers. She described the smock as the identity of the region’s people and the biggest export commodity from the Upper East Region.

Hon. Abayage said on her own, she mostly dressed in the smock attire to majority of public functions being her deliberate effort in marketing the smock to the world and to attract the needed market for the region’s people engaged in the smock business. She called on people from the region to endeavour to patronise and use local fabrics and other handicraft wears such as leather and straw products among others as this will boost the local economy.

She pledged that, she will lobby majority of both her official and private guests to visit the Bolgatanga smock market as well as other handicrafts selling points in the region to buy a thing or two any time they call on her. She however charged the smock weavers to keep their environment clean at all times as she didn’t want her visitors to come and meet a filthy business environment. The Regional Minister said with pride that “Upper East produces the best smock wears in Ghana be it male outfit or female dress, machine sewn or hand-designed.

A Youth Leader of the smock weavers, Mr. Ibrahim Bukari thanked the minister for making time to visit their premises but appealed to her sewing machines and also guide them to ready markets for their products. A request the minster took special note of and pledged to give it the necessary attention.