Gov't Secures $17m From Siftel To Support SMEs

The government has secured a $17 million fund from the SIFTEL Bank of the United States to support and promote the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME).

Deputy Minister of Trade, Industries and Presidential Special Initiatives, Mr. Asiedu Afram, who made this known last Friday, said an additional $500,000 from other donors had been accessed to complement the support by government to some SMEs over the next five years.

He was speaking at the launch of the Ghana Small and Medium Enterprise Toolkit (SME-Toolkit) in Accra.

SME-Toolkit is a kind of website that resides on the Internet and consists of free information, software programmes and other tools of relevance to the operation and development of SMEs.

The website provides the visitor with vital information on SMEs, articles on best practice, technical information, free software programmes, templates and other useful information for the growth of SMEs.

Mr. Afram said the importance of SMEs to the development and growth of the country could not be underestimated, because about 22% of employment opportunities were contributed by SMEs.

"The recent budget statement showed that growth in exports had increased by about 14% from $2,015.2 million in 2002 to $2,297.2 million last year; this no doubt is as a result of the growth of SMEs ", he noted.

Mr. Afram added that due to the vibrant and supportive nature of SMEs, a Legislative Instrument on Immigrant Quota that grants automatic immigrant quota for investors had been enacted. A mutual credit guarantee scheme had also been set up for entrepreneurs who had inadequate, no collateral and limited access to bank credit.

He said to complement other efforts by government, a rural finance project aimed at providing long-term credit to small-scale farmers and artisans had also been set up to strengthen the SME sector.

"The problem associated with these efforts can be attributed to insufficient awareness creation and sensitization for SMEs, especially those in the rural areas."

He stated that, some leading financial institutions had gained confidence in SMEs since they offered higher potential growth, good margins especially those in the export sector and were more loyal.

He said due to the important role that SMEs played in the growth of the economy, the SME-Toolkit, which is an internet-based resource, would go a long way to assist SMEs and institutions to improve on their work, enhance business and develop the growth of the SME sector.