BAC UPGRADES SKILLS OF BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS (PAGE 26)

THE Cape Coast Business Advisory Centre (BAC) has embarked on a programme to upgrade the skills of small scale business entrepreneurs to enhance their businesses in order to break the cycle of poverty among them.
The BAC has realised that despite the abundant resources and efforts put in by such entrepreneurs, packaging, book keeping and sometimes quality, are the bane of most entrepreneurs which render them poor in the midst of potential and bounty to control the perpetual cycle of poverty which afflict most rural communities in the region.
It was in this direction that a five-day workshop was organised by the centre with assistance from its mother organisation, the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) for 24 palm fruit processors from two communities in the Cape Coast metropolis.
The beneficiaries are the Nyanasin and the Koforidua Palm Oil Producers association.
They were taken through the practical preparation of palm oil, using modern methods to improve quality and taste.
According to Ms Veronica Essel, the Head of the Cape Coast branch of the BAC, the centre observed that the traditional preparation of palm-oil was done under very unhygienic conditions and was of poor quality thereby attracting low market.
Ms Essel was hopeful that with their newly acquired knowledge and skills, the beneficiaries would run their businesses with all seriousness to enable them to attract the desired market for their products as well as proper and effective time management and proper records keeping.
She urged them to educate their colleagues in the business to ensure the progress and success of their businesses.
A Metropolitan Agricultural Officer Mrs Victoria Dansoa Abankwa, urged them to take personal hygiene and sanitation at their work places seriously because consumers were at the risk of contracting diseases if they failed to work under clean environment.
She further called on them to consider packaging as important in their trade to attract customers.
A participant, Mr Frederick Adjei, on behalf of the group, thanked the organisers for equipping them with knowledge and skills to improve their products and businesses.