The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Business Development, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Business for Peace Foundation has launched “For Better Business Together programme (4BBT)” to foster local businesses resilience, in Ghana’s pursuit of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The launch of the 4BBT also marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative driven by then UN Secretary General and Ghanaian diplomat, Kofi Annan.

Initiatives under the 4BBT umbrella include the establishment of an Accra Hub of the ICC Centre for Entrepreneurship, development of SDG-investor maps by UNDP, and the provision of support for SMEs through the COVID-19 Private Sector Global Facility and ICC’s global Save Our SMEs campaign.

4BBT will also provide a platform for the global launch of the Business for Peace’s Future of Business programme.

It will equally operate as a focal point for global and local initiatives in Ghana for the three partners, to support economic recovery and strengthen the sustainability and resilience of businesses for the future.

As the institutional representative of over 45 million companies in more than 100 countries, ICC is working with its network and partners worldwide to turn global reach into practical action.

Unprecedented mobilisation and engagement of the ICC network in Sub-Saharan Africa is helping to save lives and livelihoods in the face of the COVID pandemic through work on a range of action areas – from implementation of the African Free Trade Agreement to entrepreneurship and the digitisation small businesses.

Both the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and the Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo have lent their support to the programme.

ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO addressing participants virtually said: “The COVID-9 pandemic has shown us that it is more important than ever for the public and private sector to collaborate – at both international and national level – to enable businesses and the people they employ, to ride out the pandemic and to emerge more resilient and sustainable to face the future. The For Better Business Together programme is a concrete example of the potential of public-private collaboration to have a real impact on the ground.”

“The aims of the 4BBT programme – to support economic recovery, nurture entrepreneurship, and strengthen the sustainability and resilience of businesses for the future – are very much aligned with ICC’s own purpose and mission,” Mr Denton said.

He concluded: “With partners worldwide, we continue to make the business case for enhanced international cooperation on debt, emergency financing and access to vaccines to combat COVID-19. Together, we can.”

By Akutu Dede Adimer