—UNDP Liberia Deputy Resident Representative cautions Growth Accelerator Liberia Programme beneficiaries
UNDP Liberia Deputy Resident Representative Louis Kuukpen has cautioned grantees of the Liberia MSMEs Growth Accelerator Programme not to fail themselves and partners, as they strive to contribute to the growth and development of the Liberian economy.
Kuukpen stressed the importance of using their business ideas to change the negative narratives around businesses in Liberia and the world at large. He made these comments via zoom at the official opening of a two-day workshop in Ganta City, Nimba County.
He further challenged entrepreneurs to leverage the opportunities provided by Growth Accelerator Liberia programme to change their situations and make themselves self-sufficient, create job opportunities, among other. “Have self-confidence so that the businesses that you are making have the potential to change not only Liberia’s situation; but the world as well. All of these businesses you are seeing around the world are all different ideas that make them work,” he noted.
“This is an opportunity for you to stand or fail, and we are very grateful for this two-day workshop, which will help guide you as you go through the process of developing your ventures. Congratulations to you again and please invest and take this seriously.”
Kuukpen: “We cannot underestimate the relationship with iCampus Liberia, Accountability Lab Liberia and all other partners, who have been working with us.” He also acknowledged and underscored the great partnership with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI). However, Kuukpen recognized that the UNDP’s flagship programme as a component of the larger Livelihood and Employment Creation Project launched in 2021 after COVID_19, and which he said has done a lot.
Wilfred N. Bangura II, Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI), expressed excitement over the level of passion exhibited by beneficiaries of the Growth Accelerator Liberia Programme. “I am really thrilled to see that this room is full of very young faces, who are entrepreneurs and farmers.
Minister Bangura believes that with the level of efforts applied by young CEOs, who are so innovative and very determined to change the story of Liberia’s Small-and-Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), can change the story and face of the Liberian economy.
Bangura: “Our partner the UNDP, has been working with us on this project since the inception in 2021. The Growth Accelerator Liberia Programme is a core component of the Livelihood and Employment Creation Project, which caters to entrepreneurs with the ability to employ other young people, women and persons with disability. “So on behalf of the Ministry, we want to congratulate all of you here today.”
Bangura was quick to acknowledge that the entire SMEs sector under the Ministry has been faced with three major challenges, including access to finance, access to market, and access to capacity building. “And this workshop is one of the answers to these challenges.”
According to him, the training is going to teach these entrepreneurs how to do business, build their individual capacity in a productive ways in terms of how they separate themselves from striving to maintain and sustain their various businesses.
“We know that at the end of the training, you will be able to achieve lots of things,’ he added. At the same time Bangura said that is why President George M. Weah has been firmed that Liberians must take ownership of the economy especially young entrepreneurs.
He said the Weah-led administration has been committed to working with partners who can provide the opportunities for you, the entrepreneurs, so that you can be able to participate and strive to have access to finance, market and capacity building.
Meanwhile, Luther Jeke, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), iCampus,lauded UNDP, MOCI and all partners for the level of support to the program since its inception. “We want to thank all of the partners and I think it has been a long journey as we are aware for your two separate categories of cohorts.
He explained that the program received 177 persons who applied for the opportunity. Jeke also reminded the participants as saying, “It is important to note that out of that process we have five SMES that were selected this year. For the clean and renewable energy, we had 26 applicants and we went through all of the formalities and five of you have were selected.
The training according to him, brought together 20 participants of which 10are from clean and renewable energy, while the rest are from the general SMEs. “We also have the agriculture and corporative ten of them time two as well,” he added.
The objective of the workshop is to have participants do a review of traditional agriculture practices, identify gaps, and adopt new ideas, strategies and concept to enhance their productivity.
The program, which is heavily supported by the UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, provides promising entrepreneurs with mentorship, financial support, and other resources that are needed to scale up business operations, which is currently ongoing in Buchanan.
Under this initiative, MSMEs owners have to submit proposals outlining their growth plans, financial needs, and potential for development and then compete with each other for the funds.
This year’s winners, who are part of the third cohort, were drawn from a pool of diverse representations across various sectors, including agriculture cooperatives, MSMEs and Clean/Renewable Energy and walked away with US$40,000. This third cohort includes 20 grantees with 10 drawn from the Agricultural Cooperatives while five each are from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Clean/Renewable Energy MSMEs.
The beneficiaries are undergoing intensive Agriculture and Business Development Trainings aimed at preparing them to increase their productivity and income. The workshops covered business development services designed strengthen their marketing and business management capacity. This was followed by coaching and mentorship activities to meet individual needs of each business.
The Growth Accelerator Liberia Programme is an initiative aimed at supported, impactful Liberian ventures and Agricultural Cooperatives with technical assistance, coaching/mentorship and a co-financing grant of up to US$40,000 with support from the United Nations Development Programme Liberia in collaboration with the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and implemented by iCampus Liberia, Business StartUp Center-Monrovia, AgroTech Liberia with Accountability Lab Liberia as the fiscal sponsor.
