Workers in a small enterprise
Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has stated that the government is determined to address the financing challenges which have become very critical for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development.
According to him, this will ensure that the country generates growth internally from SMEs underpinned by a robust SME financing ecosystem that can be leveraged as a vehicle for sustainable growth.
Addressing the media in Accra, the Minister said preliminary consultations with stakeholders unearthed three main challenges for SMEs, and named them as access to finance, access to markets & exports, and tax constraints and formalization.
“We are talking to various agencies of state, the private sector such as the financial institutions and we are reviewing our existing SME programmes all aimed at consolidating our efforts at providing opportunities for Ghanaian SMEs,” Dr. Amin Adam said.
He indicated that a comprehensive SME financing strategy is being developed and once approved, Ghanaians will see a roll-out of various products to support SMEs.
He explained that fast-tracking the implementation of the growth strategy with a key focus on SME development and financing is expected to support accelerated economic expansion in 2024 and the medium-term.
The minister noted that SMEs in Ghana account for 92% of existing companies, 85% of manufacturing jobs and 70% of GDP.
“Therefore, they have a growth potential with possible significant impacts at both macroeconomic and sector levels (technology, creative industries, agro value-chains, construction, tourism, commerce of local goods, transport, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, etc),” he asserted.
By Ernest Kofi Adu