ILO SCORE Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) to facilitate the transfer of responsibilities for sustainability of SCORE training activities in Ghana.
The Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) program is an ILO global scheme that seeks to improve productivity and working conditions of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country
The MoU among other things establishes a framework for cooperation between the ILO and MDPI and is expected to provide Ghanaian SMEs with a training intervention that combines practical classroom sessions with in-factory coaching to enable them to participate in global supply chains and adapt to emerging market demands brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to Citi Business News at a signing ceremony, National Project Coordinator of the ILO SCORE Project, Mr. Samuel Onoma Asiedu said the MoU is in line with Government’s plans to formalize the MSMEs sector.
“This initiative is so critical because it brings to the doorsteps of SMEs the support that ILO has that they can access anytime. This support for us means a lot to all enterprises including those that are in distress so even with this COVID-19, ILO has developed a module that is called business continuity planning that is aimed at putting in place measures that make enterprises resilient and able to bounce back from the crises and looking at the situation MDPI is an International agency that has all the requisite skills and capabilities to deliver a top-notch training. So SMEs who would access this support are assured of getting the best quality for their productivity,” he said.
SCORE was launched in 2011 in Ghana with funding from State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of Switzerland and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).
Since then, SCORE activities have been implemented in various phases: Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III that ends at the close of 2021.
About 215 SMEs have benefited from SCORE training in Ghana. Some outcomes of this training are, production cost reduction, improved delivery time, better working conditions for employees, waste reduction, less defects and safer working environment.
