Journalists undergo advocacy training

Story: Boahene Asamoah

Twenty-five journalists drawn from six regions in the country have attended a three-day training workshop in Business Advocacy at Koforidua.
The workshop was organised by the Ghana Journalists Association with support from the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund and KAB Governance Consult and forms part of the GJA/BUSAC Fund programme on using the Media to strengthen business advocacy.
Journalists were drawn from the Central, Western, Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra regions.
According to Mr Kwesi Afriyie Badu of KAB Governance Consult, the training workshop was meant to equip journalists with the requisite skills of advocacy to support the nurture and growth of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
He said it was also to equip a group of business and financial journalists to understand the concept of advocacy to support SMEs.
The lead facilitator of the workshop, Mr Kofi Asante Frimpong, took participants through a number of training modules such as Micro and small business definition and type; constraints of small enterprise sector; promotional institutions and instruments and instruments for micro and small-scale development and the concept and practise of advocacy????.
Mr Frimpong encouraged journalists to advocate for support for SMEs for the common good of the whole economy.
He underscored the importance of the SME sector to the country’s economic development.
Other speakers were Dr Ben Kumbour, Member of Parliament and Minority Spokesperson on Finance, who spoke on “The Role of Parliament in the Public Policy Process.
The Head of Civil Service, Mr Joe Issachar, also gave a presentation on “Public Policy Making”, while Dr Esther Ofei Aboagye, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government, spoke on “The Role of District Assemblies in Local Economic Development”.
A consultant and past president of the African Institute of Public Relations, Mr Allotey Pappoe, spoke on using the media for effective business advocacy.
Two follow-up meetings are expected to be held during the course of the year to assess the impact of the journalist’s work on advocacy.


NB: Use semi-colons to separate the various training modules (See the bolded section)