Government to establish small and medium-scale enterprises fund

The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) is to establish a small and medium-scale (SME) fund.

The establishment of the fund will help to reduce the challenges SMEs face in accessing capital, Mr Lukman Abdul-Rahim, NBSSI Executive Director, told the Ghana News Agency, in an interview in Accra on Tuesday.

He said discussions were far advanced with the Ghana Commercial Bank to provide funds to start the scheme.

Mr Abdul-Rahim said the SMEs cost of obtaining credit facility in Ghana was very high, making it very difficult for them to be able to compete fairly with well-established corporate organisations.

He said the NBSSI has noted with concern that due to the fact that the definition of what constitutes micro, small and medium enterprises in Ghana had not been reviewed in the past 16 years; various institutions had their own definitions for the sector, making it difficult to compare the statistics from these institutions.

Mr Abdul-Rahim also said it was also noteworthy that the Ghanaian economy had achieved some significance since the last definitions in 1998, rendering this exercise relevant and timely.

He added that the NBSSI had decided to review the definition of the SME sector in the country, under the sponsorship of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) at MOTI.

Additionally, Mr Abdul-Rahim said a committee comprising various stakeholders had been formed to review the definition of MSMEs.

He said this year, the NBSSI would undertake activities aimed at enhancing the technological capacities of SMEs in Ghana. He indicated that most SMEs lack the technological know-how and often relied on outmoded equipment in their production, processing and packaging, hence the need to improve their knowledge.

He said the NBSSI had already received GH¢1 million from the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund for it.

Mr Abdul-Rahim said the board intended to select and train 1,240 clients across the nation on how to improve their businesses and also access the international market and indicated that it had received about GH¢ million from the African Development Bank to enhance the capacity of their staff and that of some clients in the areas of product development, market access, quality assurance and export trade.

He also said NBSSI intended to build a database on SMEs in Ghana to be placed on its website so that it would provide easy access to information on SMEs to the general public, adding that they would identify also 100 products for the project.

He commended the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Commonwealth Secretariat for their support over the years.

According to Mr Abdul-Rahim, the NBSSI is providing entrepreneurship training for people across the nation so he called on the youth to take the initiative seriously. He also said the NBSSI was doing its best to provide kits or starter funds for them to start their businesses when the SME fund becomes operational.

The NBSSI is a non-profit public sector organisation set up in 1985 under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to offer business development services for micro and small enterprises.