The government is to set up a special fund to facilitate the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Scale-Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay has announced.
He said the MSME Fund was a critical component of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) bill which was passed into law last week, to elevate the National Board for Small Scale industries (NBSSI) to GEA.
Speaking at the Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit (GWES 2020) in Accra yesterday, he said the fund was intended to address lack of access to funds, which was one of the biggest challenges faced by MSMEs.
“The fund would be designed to ensure that we provide the sort of medium to long term capital that we know businesses often do not have,” the Deputy Minister said.
The GWES 2020 biennial summit was introduced by the NBSSI in 2018, to among others, foster networking and deliberation to enhance the overall productivity of women-led industries.
This year’s edition, being organised in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works programme, is on the theme “Women Entrepreneurs: Cornerstone of Economic Resilience.”
According to the Mr Ahomka-Linsday, the value of the fund, disbursement guidelines and other related matters would be made known after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assents to the bill, in the coming weeks.
He said the GEA would also support existing initiatives being implemented to support women entrepreneurs, especially in the MSME space because women and MSMEs were key cornerstones of the country’s economic growth.
He said MSMSEs account for 72 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and 92 per cent of all businesses employing close to 70 per cent of Ghanaian while women businesses account for about 45 per cent of registered businesses.
“Women are 50 per cent of the population. So if our objective is to grow our economy, we cannot neglect the half. We must ensure every member plays its role,” he said.
Mr Ahomka-Lindsay, therefore, called on stakeholders to support the government to help women fulfil their full potentials and take advantage of opportunities around them, including the incoming African Market.
The Executive Director of NBSSI, Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, in her welcome address, said aside from disbursement of stimulus packages, the Board had helped MSMES to formalise and digitalise their activities, to boost their businesses.
With its new mandate, she said, NBSSI would continue to transform the MSME sector and build the capacity of entrepreneurs especially women to be self-reliant and contribute to the development of the country’s economy.
In a video message, the Mastercard Foundation Regional Director for West, Central and North Africa, Nathalie Gabala, said the organisation would continue to partner entities like NBSSI to create opportunities for African youth and women to flourish because they were key demography in nation building.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR