A social entrepreneur involved in Ghana’s agricultural sector, Issa Ouedraogo, has appealed to government to intervene in protecting investors in the sector from individuals and organisations who connive to dupe them.
According to him, some stakeholders in the agricultural sector, particularly banks and lawyers, have developed a penchant for denying investors, especially Ghanaian citizens in the diaspora, their due.
Speaking at a social enterprise forum on Friday at the British Council, Mr Ouedraogo partly attributed the stunted growth of the agricultural sector to this phenomenon.
Mr Ouedraogo, who is the founder of B-BOVID, an agribusiness based on social entrepreneurship principles, recounted how some local banks and lawyers connived with another French firm to dupe him of his investment.
He further complained about how some stakeholders in the agricultural sector caused the publication of some false news about him and his organization, in an attempt to court disaffection for him.
Investigation
Mr Ouedraogo explained that he is not the only person in the agricultural industry who has suffered from such orchestrated attempts geared at frustrating investors. He is, therefore, calling on the government to institute a probe into the many concerns of investors in the sector and address the challenges.
He underscored that until a proper investigation is conducted into the activities of some persons in the country and their nefarious activities brought to book, they would continue to push investors out of Ghana to the detriment of the larger population.
“It would further exacerbate the worsening phenomenon of unemployment in the country, constantly ringing profusely in the ears of entrepreneurs, political leaders, and government officials,” he said.
