Ato Van-Ess, Chairman, Sekondi-Takoradi Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Edited transcript
David’s Introduction: We continue our series with oil and gas with a look at the small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), and how they can benefit from this industry. My guest today is a very passionate man; he is the Chairman of the Western Region Chamber of Commerce (the organization responsible for business advocacy in that part of Ghana). He has been very vocal about preparing the youth in the region for the opportunities available in Ghana’s emerging oil and gas industry. He says unless we plan, focus, and with support from government, these great opportunities will pass us by.
David: Tell us about the Chamber of Commerce. What exactly is your role?
Ato Van-Ess: The Chamber of Commerce is supposed to be the official voice of business. The Chamber of Commerce started way back in the 1930s. Sometime in 1961 there was an Act of Parliament, Executive Instrument 196, which gave the Chamber of Commerce the right to be the official voice of business.
David: When you say the official voice of business what you are saying is that the Chamber of Commerce is the organization responsible for making a case for increased trade, commerce and economic activity?
Ato Van-Ess: Yes, exactly.
David: Have you been successful? The Chamber of Commerce is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of success with business, is it?
Ato Van-Ess: I will agree with you to some extent; but times are changing and the leadership is changing, and we are getting to better times.
David: What are you doing differently?
Ato Van-Ess: We are now talking more with government, and also with businesses
David: Just talking?
Ato Van-Ess: Yes, it starts with dialogue. We need to talk, understand where we are going; we need to talk to understand what we need to do together. There are also private and public partnerships and we are supposed to come together and move ahead, because we can’t move in different directions.
David: So where are you going, and what will you do together?
Ato Van-Ess: Well, we are all looking forward to developing Ghana.
David: The Chamber of Commerce, I would imagine, will also provide training for entrepreneurs. Is that a successful project?
Ato Van-Ess: It is, to a large extent. For example, in the Western region, we are coming up with a business incubator project, which is a deliberate effort to help start-ups. This training is for young entrepreneurs who don’t know what to do and where to start from. This incubator is going to be supported by the Chamber’s Knowledge Centre. What we intend to do is bring together all the scattered data. This will be powered by ICT so that unemployed youth with entrepreneurial potential can tap into this system, and make use of the data to start businesses. We want them to start businesses because we believe they have the potential to go into business. That is what we are basically doing now.
David: You spoke about ‘bringing together scattered data’, what do you mean?
Ato Van-Ess: Data is scattered all over the place.
David: Data on what?
Ato Van-Ess: Business data. The processes, the requirements for starting a business, such as where to go when starting a business, where to find such information, etc. Assuming you are a Ghanaian based in the UK, and you want to come home and work; where are you going to get all this information from? Currently, it’s not like you will find all this information organized on a single piece of paper.
David: Apart from providing people with information, what else do you do? Where is your funding from? Are you in the position to really assist?
Ato Van-Ess: Yes, we are in the position to assist. We are working with the UNDP and IBM. We currently have 8 IBM consultants who are here to assist us to develop these documents. We are also talking to players in the oil and banking industry to assist. This Knowledge Centre I am talking about is not only for the Chamber of Commerce; it’s for the entire business community. The business incubator is also to bring these young people out as they will be required to develop businesses that will support the existing industry. It is therefore in our interest to ensure that we encourage such talents. The business incubator is supposed to bring these young people together to be trained and helped to set up their businesses. When a specific cohort of people is out of the system, we bring in new people. We want to instill in our youth the entrepreneurial spirit and we are very confident that they have what it takes to do business.
David: Let’s talk about the oil and gas industry. You spoke about the opportunities for entrepreneurs in the oil and gas industry. What exactly do want from the oil and gas industry?
Ato Van-Ess: There is an air of unease in Ghana. Take for example the mining industry, they have been the big guys for a long time. We see them with flashy cars right under our noses, they own huge infrastructure etc. So everybody aspires to work in the mining industry and so they have been able to attract all the best human resources in the nation. Suddenly, big brother (oil industry) comes to town, and he is more resourced than the other brother (mining industry). The mining and banking industry now fear they will lose all their human resource to the oil industry because they (the oil and gas industry) pay well. The younger brother is happy because there is variety, and he does not only rely on the other brother (mining) because he now has another bigger brother who is much more resourced. So for example with the logistics industry, the timber industry, mining industry and oil industry; now there is variety but the danger here is that other companies from other countries might come in. It’s very easy for them to come in because they don’t need much infrastructure, because they can come in with one or two trucks and they are competing. The local industries will get scared that other companies are coming to compete but again the local industries are happy there is variety. Then we come to the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), now they are aware of the emerging oil and gas industry, however they are worried because they don’t know how they can benefit from the industry.The issue here is that international businesses are not going to come in to do business like supermarkets or something but we might have other companies from Accra, Kumasi flooding Takoradi to do business and to compete. The caution here is that we don’t have to be affected by the Dutch disease where the emergence of the oil industry will make us to de-industrialize so that the manufacturing sector will go down as a result. This will affect the whole economy if this happens.
David: Why don’t you just prepare yourselves to be a part of it?
Ato Van-Ess: The Chamber of Commerce is discussing the issue in consultation with some traditional chiefs, elders and opinion leaders. We believe that if we change, we can prepare ourselves to compete with international businesses.
David: How about the service industry, there is a huge potential?
Ato Van-Ess: If we are not prepared we can not take advantage of it.
David: Whose fault is it?
Ato Van-Ess: It is our own fault. If as individuals we are not prepared, how can we take advantage of the opportunities?
David: This is a challenge. People are willing to engage individuals, give them opportunities if they are qualified and can deliver; but so often we are simply not prepared. Let’s examine our habits; in this country, there are people who are unable to compete for various reasons, such as having to attend a funeral or because it is raining. How are we going to change these kinds of things?
Ato Van-Ess: Unfortunately, some of these issues eat me up. Not too long ago I went to a shop to buy a bag; the shop attendant was lying on the bags, watching TV. After I made my purchase I requested a receipt and she had no idea what I meant by that. My point is if we do not formalize business activities, such as registering with VAT and paying taxes, we do not stand any chance of getting business. And these are some of the things we are advocating. It is also interesting that some of these services are so basic and we also have the resources. Our attitude is not just right but that is not to say the potential is not there; we have what it takes to do these jobs.
David: Is it justified to say that there is fear because people are coming in to do business?
Ato Van-Ess: Looking from our angle, it is justified to a certain extent.
David: Why?
Ato Van-Ess: We are not too comfortable because people are coming to take our jobs, and this is a natural phenomenon.
David: But it’s a free market?
Ato Van-Ess: Yes, it’s a free market. Even the inventors of free market (UK) are not comfortable when we go to their country to work; they sack you at a point in time.
David: They are not comfortable with people who do not belong there but visit their place to take up jobs?
Ato Van-Ess: Let me give you the Scottish example. When they discovered oil some 40 years ago, the Scots were not comfortable with people coming from London and other parts of the UK to work there.
David: How do you know when people come in?
Ato Van-Ess: We see them come in.
David: And you know these are people coming in to do business?
Ato Van-Ess: There are different categories of people; the foreigners, those from Accra and those who are part of us (indigenes of Ghana’s western region) but have stayed away for long. We know them all
David: Do you want to keep everything for yourselves?
Ato Van-Ess: We cannot really handle everything, and so we are prepared to bring in the expertise we do not have. Well, during the late 1990s and early part of 2000, when things went down in Takoradi, we all left for Accra, other places and we were accepted. Now that we have found oil we cannot reject people from other regions, but it does not mean that we should be overlooked.
David: There is a certain feeling that this oil belongs to the Western Region, like they are the ones to benefit from it most of all, but I can understand it to an extent. You will agree with me that that is not the way to do this?
Ato Van-Ess: Take Tarkwa (a mining town in Ghana) example, the negative effects of mining directly affect the people of Tarkwa.
David: Your point is that the locality closer to the industry will receive the negative impact most (if there are any); therefore the locality deserves more of the good. Is this the argument?
Ato Van-Ess: When you are sitting by your mother who is frying fish, and your brother is learning in the room, who tastes the fish first? You do! This is because you are close by helping, and so you taste first. However, in any event of an accident like fire, it will hurt you because you are close to it. Even in business terms it is economical to use local human resources. Why would you employ a person from Accra who would have to travel every Friday back to Accra to see his family?
David: But I’ll recruit someone from Accra if I cannot find any qualified person from Takoradi.
Ato Van-Ess: It is okay to do that if you cannot find someone from Takoradi, but you can’t tell me you can’t find secretaries, accountants, etc in Takoradi.
David: So part of the Chamber’s job is to put such information together so that when people want various professional services, they can find that from you. Was that what you meant earlier?
Ato Van-Ess: Yes, that is what we intend to do with the Knowledge Centre. So we are collating CVs, business data and all that, so that when you go into that system, you can find the services and human resources that you can get at the local level. It’s easier to do business with people close by the region. This way they can always report to work at anytime and deliver, as opposed to doing business with people outside the Western region, which tends to slow business.
David: What would you like to see government do?
Ato Van-Ess: Government usually has great plans for SMEs, such as assisting us to acquire loans, policy formulation, and what have you. But I’d like to question the passion behind these great plans and ideas. There are usually funds for business start ups, business expansion and what have you. Government does not make it their business to ensure that those funds are used for their intended purposes; like who is benefiting, which region is benefiting, are the resources going down to the SMEs, etc. Government should check all these details. If they rely on reports, they are going to be misled. There are so many of these funds, and I would want to challenge government to really assess how these packages and funding is implemented.
David: Are you saying there is wastage?
Ato Van-Ess: I’m saying the SMEs are not benefiting from all the various funds that have been set aside to help SMEs. I stand to be corrected if I am wrong.
David: Why are they not benefiting?
Ato Van-Ess: To the best of my knowledge, in my region and town the SMEs are not benefiting, and if anybody has figures I’d like to see.
David: As the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce you have no idea what’s going on?
Ato Van-Ess: I have no idea what’s going on, and I am telling you for a fact. And when I request reports I don’t get the facts. How are the packages for SMEs getting to them? You see, the ideas are fine and government has done its part, but the implementing agencies are not doing their bit of the work. So I’m suggesting that government conducts follow-ups at the grass-roots, instead of waiting for reports from implementing agencies. My point is that if the implementing agencies are doing what is expected of them, then my office will be duly informed; but we don’t know what is going on.
David: So they are paying lip service?
Ato Van-Ess: Yes, and that’s how we feel. I am talking as a small business owner who is doing everything right and is trying to expand my business. I want to set up a factory, I go to places and am tossed around. Even if you want a GHC 5000 over-draft or loan facility from a bank, they don’t even send you an acknowledgement of receipt of that letter applying for the advance.
David: They assume you will never pay back; that you’ll run away if given the money
Ato Van-Ess: So then reply and acknowledge receipt of the letter. But you don’t get even an acknowledgement. This is what SMEs are going through. It is real. I asked for a loan facility of GHC5000, I was not given; then I asked for GHC10000 they told me they could only give me GHC 1000. The banks will tell you they have their policies and so they cannot give out loans. But how are those policies helping SMEs? It’s a fact that they are in business, but there also is a regulatory body and so if these things are not regulated, then there is no way I see Ghana developing. If banks are going to treat SMEs the way they are doing, if government implementing agencies are not going to do what is expected of them then we are going to be where we are. If government is passionate about these things then it can descend on these people to do what is best for the SMEs. We wanted to train 50 businesses in basic business planning in Takoradi and for over a year now we have not got funding for it.
David: SMEs need to organize themselves to take advantage of the opportunities
Ato Van-Ess: We ought to understand that SMEs are the engine of growth because majority of business are small. These enterprises engage themselves in all manner of businesses. If you go out there and you don’t get food to eat, you will drop dead and when you finish eating, you need to buy water and then maybe an orange; these are all the small enterprises holding us together. The USA for example pays so much attention to its SMEs, and so they are growing the economy. They have systems we can adopt to enable SMEs grow.
David: The whole system is disorganized and there is no structure for anything.
Ato Van-Ess: Yes, we are really disorganized.
David: Suddenly, there are adverts on some schools training people for the oil and gas industry, and it seems like people just want to cash in for a short term gain. How do you fix that?
Ato Van-Ess: There are opportunists in the system, and there are also opportunistic businesses in the system. Everyone is trying to organize something, like a conference, school here and there, etc. There was this time when I was glancing through the papers and I saw an advert on a conference which was associated to GNPC. Interestingly, a few pages away was also an advert by GNPC disassociating itself from that same conference. There are so many oil and gas schools that have been started, yet they are not registered with GNPC
David: Schools have to be accredited, monitored, must have minimum standards etc. Are these institutions properly registered?
Ato Van-Ess: I was contacted to work for an Oil Field Training Center in the Western Region but the first thing I decided to do was check if the company was duly registered with VAT, IRS, Registrar-General and most importantly GNPC. Fortunately, I discovered this school was genuine. What we have to understand is that education, research and development are key to what we are doing. Let me take you through the Scottish experience again. When the Scottish discovered oil they did not know anything. Now, they have over 2000 businesses related to oil and gas. They are huge in the global oil environment but behind these figures is the national vision, experience, drive, and commitment. They also focused on education, research and development. They are however not just key players in the operational activities, but also in research and education such that everything that has to do with oil and gas must have reference to Aberdeen. We can also set up educational institutions. The Oil Field Training Center is a Ghanaian partnership with a foreigner. If we have such knowledge centres, we can partner with foreign companies so that we can work efficiently and effectively to educate ourselves, so that we can take control of this oil industry.
David: Thank you for coming.
First Broadcast 31st October 2009, TV3 Ghana
