A Communications Consultant and former Member of Parliament of Ablekuma South, Mr. Fritz Baffour says the Catholic Business Fair organised by the Accra Archdiocesan Catholic Laity Council (AACLC) and the Catholic Professional Guilds (CPG) is a very worthy enterprise that should be supported by all the Clergy and the thousands of lay faithful in the Archdiocese of Accra.
Speaking as the Guest of Honour at the opening of the maiden Laity Business Fair at the Star of the Sea Catholic Church at Dansoman last Stop on Saturday, March 5, Mr. Baffour thanked the organisers for the initiative, which he said would encourage Catholic entrepreneurs.
In order to build capacity and create wealth among the Catholic lay faithful led the AACLC and the CPG to initiate a platform to consciously and actively promote Catholic owned businesses and provide Catholic Entrepreneurs and Professionals the opportunity to display their products and services to the larger Catholic family.
Mr. Baffour said since the country was facing crossroads with 85% of Ghana’s population being under 45 years, it calls for strenuous efforts to look for avenues generate funds to take care of them.
“We’ve got a problem on our hands, we got to feed them (85% under 45years), look after them and find them jobs to contribute to society; and if we don’t have the enabling environment to do so, then we have a serious security problem on our hands,” he stated.
He added, “Already you’ve seen the crying situation that comes out when you read from the media, you find out young men and women below the age of 25 causing mayhem throughout the world and in Ghana, so we really have to do something.”
He noted that it was based on this the Catholic Church is seen to be the focal point in instilling the right morals and right kind of training and upbringing for the society.
Mr. Baffour indicated that the Catholic Church had always been the focus of modern society because of its enterprising nature, stating that there were many businesses owned by Catholics which were doing very well in Ghana and the world in general.
“The origin of most of the breweries actually comes from the Catholic Church,” he said, and told the participants that, “You have a task at hand to also create something that would make Ghana a better country for all.”
He urged Catholic entrepreneurs to exhibit humility in nurturing their businesses since humility was the key to every successful business. “In humility, you will get your recompense,” he added.
The Parish Priest of Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Rev. Fr. Albert Gyapanin, prayed that the fair would be a revelation for Catholics to patronise their own. He also prayed that the Fair would help young entrepreneurs grow their businesses to give employment to other Catholics.
On his part, the Accra Archdiocesan Laity Council Chairman, Mr. Timothy Sowah said the Business Fair would be a regular activity on the Archdiocesan calendar, meant to inculcate entrepreneurial spirit among the laity.
He said it would go a long way to reduce unemployment among them and help groom business growth through partnerships and networking.
He praised Catholics who owned businesses, praying that young businesses would grow to become like the DOMODS, Tropical Cables and others who also started on a small scale.
He encouraged young Catholic businesses to make the efforts to employ Catholics when their businesses see the light of growth, adding that like a mustard seed, their businesses would surely boom and grow from strength to strength.
The Star of the Sea Parish laity Council Chairman, Mr. Richard Ampofo, appealed to Catholics to invest in making the laity in the Church more entrepreneurial than depending on non-existing government jobs.
By Damian Avevor
