News
Graduate abandons corporate dream, goes into gari production
• Sharon busily processing some cassava
One advantage that is at the disposal of today’s entrepreneurs is innovation.
The scientific community today has created a platform for innovation especially among young people.
So, the current generation of young men and women who venture into entrepreneurship are making things through technology and innovation.
In the face of the current economic turbulence, there have been calls on government to ban or look into the importation of goods that can be locally produced to improve the market in Ghana.
Interestingly, there are young entrepreneurs already in the system adding value to the locally produced goods and one such inspiring innovator is 32-year old Sharon Ayertey Yomle who is defying all odds at Dodowa to add value to gari.
Sharon grew up at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region and attended Krobo Girls Senior High School in the Eastern Region where she studied Business and later graduated from the University of Cape Coast with a first degree in Commerce in 2019.
She, like most young Ghanaians, was attracted to securing a corporate job after school though she had a business plan.
Interacting with The Spectator , Sharon intended to start this project during her retirement but she was privileged to join the British Council and Giz Jobs in Africa incubation programme in 2019.
According to her, the idea to start Yomle Foods was born at the programme when one facilitator advised her to start from somewhere.
The advice ignited some passion in her to take that step with the little resources she had.
The first resource at her disposal started her first product, Yommy Gari and it was welcomed on the market.
Subsequently, she added the Soya Gari Mix, Tombrown, Rice Cereal Mix, Ginger Powder and others.
She stated that Yomle Foods sought to be a sustainable food production hub as she planned to give more income to rural farmers and women by engaging their services in producing these products.
This, she said, would give them a livelihood and a market for their farm produce.
Ms Yomle admitted that as a graduate of the just-ended acceleration programme, Orange Corners, organised by the Netherlands Embassy and its partners between March and August this year, it has given her a whole idea of the future direction of Yomle foods in the next five years through the pragmatic steps in place to achieve that.
She explained that as small-scale business, she encountered many funding challenges.
She cited for instance, the prices of raw materials, packaging materials and penetrating the current market with the products to be daunting.
Though faced with these challenges, she is grateful to the Ghana Enterprise Agency for being available and providing entrepreneurial support financial literacy training to young businesses.
She noted that there had been meetings and suggestions in the soya beans value chain and hopes the government would listen to these tabled concerns of those in the value chain and provide the needed solutions to stop the increment in the prices of such products to enable small-scale businesses to stay in business.
Ms Yomle stated that the importation of soya for instance, had been causing a price hike in soya beans so local small businesses like hers and those in soya oil production and other soya based products were forced to use more capital on raw materials but was optimistic about government’s intervention.
From Ken Afedzi, Dodowa
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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