Government to increase market access for SMEs - MOTI

Accra, July 22, GNA - Trade and Industry Minister Papa Owusu-Ankomah on Thursday said the Ministry would soon commence a programme to increase access to various markets where there are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enable that sector to fit into the broader goals of national development.

He said government considered SMEs, which constituted about 80 per cent of registered businesses in the country, as a major player in the development agenda of the country, and as such would promote the sector to generate income for development and eradicate poverty in Ghana. Mr. Owusu-Ankomah was addressing executives of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), who called on him to introduce a project commenced by the Association to equip journalists with the requisite skills and knowledge to support private sector business in undertaking actions to improve the sector.

The project - Using Media to Strengthen Business Advocacy in Ghana - funded by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC), and managed by KAB Governance Consult, would enable journalists to learn about the business sector and improve their knowledge of public policy process at the national and district levels.

It is expected that the project would improve the coverage of business financing and advocacy by the media.

Mr Owusu-Ankomah said government was interested in promoting Ghana's domestic market in the face of soaring commodity prices worldwide, to enable Ghanaians to patronize domestic commodities to grow the SME sector.

He commended the project undertaken by the GJA to improve private business in Ghana through advocacy, saying that, it fitted into the Ministry's policies.

Mr Ransford Tetteh, President of the GJA, told the Minister that journalists needed to identify with particular areas of the economy that needed greater policy support.

He said the GJA was using the platform not only to draw attention to small scale businesses but to develop the capacity of journalists to serve the interest of the country. Mr Kwasi Afriyie-Badu, Chief Executive Officer of the KAB Consult, called on government to give greater support to the National Board for Small Scale Industries to make it relevant to the growth of SMEs.