Ghana’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector is set to witness a major boost as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, UNIDO, and the Government of Japan have signed an agreement to enhance competitiveness and sustainability of MSMEs.
The 3.4 million dollar project is part of efforts to support the country’s industrialisation drive.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization representative for Ghana and Liberia Fakhruddin Azizi, said the 3-year project will support Ghana in scaling up its national Kaizen initiative, and by extension enhance the performance of Ghanaian MSMEs.
“The project will introduce “Smart and Sustainable Agri-Business (SSAB)” – an approach that collects key performance indicators to visualize the enterprises’ performance, also related to productivity, resource efficiency, food security/compliance and social welfare,” he said.
Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Ghana, H. E. Hisanobu Mochizuki urged government to look more broadly at how it can integrate Kaizen to ensure the success of its flagship programs such as the One District One Factory and Planting for Food and Jobs.
“Fortunately for Ghana, this project we are signing today will not be the first time the Kaizen initiative is being implemented. Since 2012, JICA has been rolling out technical cooperation projects utilizing Kaizen. Examples of such projects are ‘the Project for Formulating a Strategic Module for Quality/Productivity Improvement through the strengthening of Business Development Services for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (2012-2015), the National Kaizen Project (2015-2018) and The Enterprise Development Project with Kaizen (2020-2025).
Whiles, we encourage Ghana to adopt the Kaizen ideas in its work culture it is important to acknowledge the differences in the Kaizen styles. In this regard, Ghana must look more broadly at how it can integrate Kaizen to suit its local needs and conditions. For example, Ghana has to look at how the Kaizen philosophy can help propel the Government’s flagship program of Ghana Beyond Aid and other initiatives such as NABCO, One District One Factory and Planting for Food and Jobs,” he said.
The 3.4 million dollar project is part of efforts to support the country’s industrialisation drive.
With funding from the government of Japan and in partnership with the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO will implement its “Expanding the Kaizen initiative by enhancing sustainable agribusiness” project that, through the Organization’s digital dashboard system, will address the economic performance, resource efficiency, and social welfare of MSMEs.
Ghana has disseminated Kaizen – a Japanese methodology and philosophy for continuous quality and productivity improvement over the last decade. As such, hundreds of Ghanaian enterprises have applied the Kaizen practices, which have helped them improve their performance. Still, to achieve a bigger national impact, the approach needs to be upgraded to sustainably improve the enterprises’ competitiveness.