Entrepreneur calls for greater investment into agri-business

Founder of tropical dried fruit company, Yvaya Farm, Yvette Tetteh has called on the Government of Ghana to simplify the process of registering a business in the country. In an interview with 3news.com’s Natalie Fort, she bemoaned the long duration involved in registering a business coupled with the tax system makes the youth less interested in venturing into entrepreneurship. “I will definitely define our business as a startup, we’ve just done over a year and a half of business as a registered company supplying stores. We owe our success to our great team and advisers,” she noted. “However, load-shedding (dumsor), trying to navigate the tax system, and the difficulty in registering a business have posed major challenges.” The agribusiness company, Yvaya Farm seeks to contribute to the agricultural value chain by introducing innovative products unto the market, to meet the growing need of Ghanaians for healthy snacks. The company which was registered as a Limited Liability in 2018 already supplies its range of dried fruits to four retail locations. Yvette Tetteh further noted government should create the correct ecosystem around the agribusiness industry, by increasing investment in the packaging industry to improve the overall image of Ghanaian products “Currently, we are sourcing, cutting, drying and slicing our fruits in Ghana. We also print a lot of our labels locally, one thing we don’t do however is buy the actual packaging itself here in Ghana, and that’s largely because we don’t have the industry for it. There are a few companies which are making the packaging, but the minimum order for the local companies is massive and it doesn’t make financial sense to buy from them for the moment. As a result, most of our packaging is coming from abroad; specifically China, Taiwan, and India.” The packaging industry forms an important part of the overall agribusiness industry, many small and medium-sized African businesses have difficulty sourcing affordable quality packaging for their products. Few packaging suppliers exist within the region and even fewer have the ability to create packaging that meets international standards and satisfies consumer preferences. Many African producers therefore turn to Europe and North America for packaging supplies. The young entrepreneur, Yvette Tetteh further entreated young business owners to employ new media in advertising their business “Maybe it’s because we are millennials, but our main form of advertising has been mainly through social media, though we really try and match that with in person activation. I encourage young entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunities new media provides”. According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, agriculture is the main driving force behind Ghana’s economy, accounting for approximately 42% of the country’s GDP and employing 54% of its work force. Source: 3news.com | Ghana]]>