The Deputy Fund Manager of Skills Development Fund (SDF), Mr. Dunwell Eku, has said recent studies show that Ghanaian industries were performing poorly on the world market in terms of productivity and technology.

For example, he said, Ghana was not doing well regarding the cultivation and growing of tomatoes as compared to neighbouring Burkina Faso.

“Even growing of tomatoes, Ghana is not doing well in terms of yield per hectare between us and Burkina Faso,” Mr. Eku added.

To arrest the situation, he said, government had introduced SDF to support industry players both on the Demand Side and on Supply Side.

Addressing participants, mainly drawn from the College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, Mr. Eku observed that government was of the strong conviction that industries would be better off to boost productivity in the country through the Fund

He announced that “this time round the focus is on agricultural, agricultural business, agricultural processing and sustainable or renewable energy for this Fund going forward.”

He said, in the previous phase, SDF doled out almost 630 different grants to some industries to the tune of over $ 50 million, adding that “In the enterprises over 100,000 workers were trained in various areas.”

The Deputy Fund Manager encouraged participants to take advantage of the Fund to contribute their quota to the development of the country.

He indicated that participants would get the chance to rehash their presentations in the unlikely event that the Approval Committee of the SDF flatly rejects their first applications.

The Grants Officer, Mrs. Adjoa Kwarteng Larbi, took participants in the workshop through the online application cycle steps of the Fund, which  will end on Wednesday, February 8, 2017.

The workshop was facilitated by the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC).