To ensure the sustainability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), a business interaction series has been held for businesses in Takoradi.
The event brought together members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, the GUTA, the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the GNCCI, and other SMEs in the region.
Speaking to journalists at the event, the Group Head of Business Banking at Access Bank, Kafui Bimpeh, stated that the rationale of the event is to promote the development and sustainability of SMEs in the region.
“At Access Bank, as part of our agenda of advancing Africa, which includes supporting businesses across Africa, we took it upon ourselves to ensure the development and growth of SMEs sustainably.
So we have been doing a number of engagements, and we initiated a lot of things in the past by migrating what they do currently into digital space. We have been able to create access to markets for them and support them in terms of financing.
We realize that sometimes, it’s not the financing that they need, but they need capacity building to be able to use the funds. We therefore decided to partner with Deloitte to derive that impact.
This is the 4th edition, which we are holding here in Takoradi.”
Mr. Bimpeh mentioned that it is important for business owners to be equipped with skills and other capacities to boost their revenues.
He says the contributions of the SMEs cannot be overlooked, as their inputs need to be appreciated. According to him, it is essential to guide business owners in the management of their businesses and to maximise profit in their trades.
” We know the contributions of SMEs in the development of the economy. Their contributions are so significant that we can’t continue to ignore them.”
Their contributions, in terms of employment, GDP, and innovation, and serving as output that gives input to multinationals,” he said.
Some of the skills business owners received include Record-keeping, professionally conducting business, having good corporate structures, making financial houses visible over their businesses, and having good decision-making tools to expand their businesses.
For his part, the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah, commended Access Bank and Deloitte Ghana for the initiative.
He urged businesses to judiciously use funds offered as loans from financial houses to reflect in the growth of the economy.
” I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Access Bank PLC for their invitation and especially commend and congratulate them for this initiative and their show of extreme enthusiasm in organizing the business interaction series aimed at creating the platform for an engagement with key stakeholders in the SME space.”
“I urged businesses to utilize support from financial institutions efficiently. I think the bottom line is to see resilience in businesses that have the potential to transform the economy and the nation
and those who can create employment as well so that we can deal with some of the challenges of unemployment,” The Minister mentioned.
The Takoradi edition of the Access Bank-Deloitte Ghana SME Business Interaction Series was under the theme; SME Financial Empowerment, An Imperative for Business Resilience.
