The Wenchi Business Advisory Center of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (BAC/GEA) has held a sensitization program for farmers in Subinso No 2 in the Wenchi Municipality to sensitize farmers on the farmers the requirements, processes and benefits of acquiring Business registration certificate on formalizing their activities..
The training program organized by the Wenchi Agriculture College and being funded by Giz dubbed the Power of Three (P3) was mainly to transfer better understanding of business insight with an intergraded gender dimensions for agribusiness to thrive on a new mind set. To empower the farmers to grow in agri-business and adopt gender transformative business development. This involves three 3 levels; change starts with (ME), supported by the team you work with (WE) and working with stakeholders (All of us) to affect systematic change. Doing business differently to achieve better outcomes and improving profitability. To sensitize farmers on the farmers the requirements, processes and benefits of acquiring Business registration certificate on formalizing their activities.
Business Registration Certificate is a document backing business operations. Registering a business is the first step to setting up a successful business and it is a legal requirement in Ghana. Participants were taken through the types of Business Registration such as;
- Sole proprietorship registration; it is a business owned and run by an individual. The assets of the entrepreneur are not separate from the assets of the business.
- Partnerships; an association of two or more individuals carrying on business jointly for the purposes of making profit. A partnership should consist of two or more owners who are of sound mind, above 18 and have not been found guilty of any offence. In partnerships, the entrepreneur shares liability for a business venture. A partnership is treated as a separate legal entity from individuals who make up the partnership.
- Company Registration;
- Limited liability; this appropriate, when the entrepreneur wants to separate personal assets from the assets of the business. In effect, when the company owes, the personal assets of directors or shareholders cannot be attached to satisfy the debt.
- Unlimited liability; this appropriate when the entrepreneur does not want to limit their liability in respect of the company. this means that when the company owes, assets of shareholders will be used to satisfy the debt
- Limited by shares; where a company is limited by shares, shareholders subscribe to the shares and pay an agreed amount for each share they subscribe to. If a person pays full cost of shares held, that member will not be called upon to contribute in times of debt. However, if a person has not paid for the full or partial cost of shares,the liability for the debt will be limited to amount owed on shares.
- Limited by guarantee ; is prohibited from engaging in business for profit purpose.eg NGOs, Churches, Youth groups etc
Registration Requirements
Requirement for business registration include;
- Visit the office in person as the business owner
- Proposed name of business
- Personal Details
- Passport pictures
- TIN & National Identification Card Number
- Digital Address ( business location & residential)
- Amount Required
The Benefits of business registration include;
- Business uniqueness and ownership
- Business security and protection
- Advertisement and promotion of goods and services
- Market penetration
- Contract opportunities
- Accessibility to Credit Facilities and government interventions
- Legal backing for business
The participants wanted to know;
- why TIN is still a requirement when the Ghana Card was said to have replaced it.
- the appropriate organization to acquire TIN and the cost involved.
- if it was necessary to acquire Business Operating Permit( BOP) if one has certification from the Registrar Generals Department ( RGD)
- if it was necessary for farmers to register their farms
- Participants appealed for government support and interventions to help expand their businesses by making Credit Facilities available and accessible.
The farmers asked a lot of questions to differentiate between the Registrar General’s registration and Business Operation Permit of the Assembly.
Participants realized the need to regularly engage and consult the BAC to acquire more knowledge on their operations.
At the end of the training programme, participants realised the need to acquire the necessary documents to formalize their businesses.
Source: Information Services Department (ISD/WMA)
By: Stanick Sofel Amuzu Kpodo