A number of local farmers have come together to produce 3,000 tonnes of sorghum this year to feed the country’s breweries.
The 3,500 farmers are to be assisted with capital under the Venture Capital Trust Fund, to upgrade their small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
The programme is also to enable breweries in the country to reduce their dependence on imported raw materials for their operations.
In addition, 20 medium-scale companies have benefited from the credit facilities and technical assistance provided by Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) through its subsidiary capital financing companies to the tune of GH¢9 million.
Nana Osei Bonsu, Chief Executive Officer of Venture Capital Trust Fund, who announced this at a press briefing on good corporate governance for 21 board members of beneficiary companies, said the venture had through its subsidiary companies spent GH¢2.1 million in the agro business sector since last year.
He said the rationale behind the setting up of the Venture Capital Trust Fund by an Act of Parliament was to enhance the capital base of SMEs in the country.
He said apart from the credit facilities, technical assistance had been provided to the SMEs to enable them to adopt corporate values such as teamwork, accountability and transparency in their workplaces.
Nana Osei Bonsu said as a result of recurring corporate fraud and scandals, the importance of professional ethics, corporate responsibility and good corporate governance framework could not be overemphasised.
He said it was, therefore, imperative for corporate directors and managers to acquire knowledge of the best practices in corporate governance in order for their businesses to succeed in this competitive environment.
Nana Osei Bonsu said plans were advanced to launch a new corporate mentoring programme where each entrepreneur would be seconded to a larger corporation for mentoring in order to curb certain operational inefficiencies.
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