JICA and NBSSI to support SMEs

The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), have launched a joint project to assist and enhance the viability of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

It is being piloted in the Ashanti Region with 36 enterprises selected to benefit.

The project involves exposing the enterprises to best practices, business development, corporate management, and tax and loan system.

Business Advisory Centres would also receive refresher training to strengthen their capacity to aid the SMEs to improve the quality of their products.

Mr. Tamon Nagai, an official of JICA, made these known at a day’s seminar to sensitize Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the region on the project.

He said the three-year project would significantly help the enterprises to increase productivity and profitability.

Mr. Nagai said the SMEs that were contributing to national development and job creation constituted about 90 per cent of the manufacturing sector, and there was the need to support the sector to grow.

Mr. Nagai pledged the readiness of JICA to work with the NBSSI to promote the SMEs.

JICA would also provide the staff of the Board with the requisite training and expose them to skills in “corporate diagnosis know-how, accounts and book-keeping methods, networking and finance,” to empower the workers to efficiently support the development of the enterprises.

Mr. Saeed Owusu-Brobbey, Ashanti Regional Manager of the NBSSI, said the project would be expanded to benefit SMEs across the country.**