Government to revive 150 'distressed' companies - Carlos Ahenkorah

Government will in the coming days roll out a stimulus package aimed at reviving some 150 state companies in distress, deputy Trade Minister Carlos Ahenkorah has revealed.

According to Mr. Ahenkorah, a study has been conducted on existing indigenous companies that are in distress to ascertain what stimulus packages will be needed to revive their operations. According to Mr. Ahenkorah, the stimulus package ranges from tax holidays, managerial training and re-training, financial support, free importation among others.

Speaking at the 2017 Start-up CEOs Convention in Accra on Wednesday June 7, 2017, the deputy Trade Minister added that government intends to empower existing institutions that have oversight responsibilities on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), such as the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), GRATIS Foundation and Rural Enterprise Programme, to enable them execute them perform as expected.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in the 2017 budget presentation hinted of government's plan to revive a number of state institutions. Despite falling short of mentioning the exact amount government was dedicating to the program, the finance minister said “a National Industrial Revitalisation Programme with a stimulus package for industry will be established” earlier in March.

The package, according to the budget, will “provide technical and financial support to existing companies that are currently distressed or are facing operational challenges, but are deemed to be viable to benefit from the stimulus package which will put them in operation in the shortest possible time.”