MSMEs to be better positioned to drive economic growth – GEA

The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) Kosi Yankey-Ayeh has said that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) would be better positioned to drive economic growth as well as improving the quality of lives of citizens.

According to her, one of the aims for establishing the GEA is to safeguard the MSME sector which is estimated to employ over 80 percent of Ghana’s workforce. As a result, the GEA which is currently the apex body for the development of small-scale industries in the country has put in place structures to leapfrog fortunes in the sector.

Speaking at a media engagement organized by the Ministry of Information, Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh said: “This new agency would be the apex body to promote, grow and regulate the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.

The importance of this and the promotion of the MSME sector cannot be undermined because of what it does for an economy in terms of strengthening and growing it, job creation, wealth creation and improving the quality of life of Ghanaians.”

Her comment is coming on the back of the elevation of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to the Ghana Enterprises Agency following the passage of the GEA Bill, 2020 into an Act in November last year by a unanimous decision in Parliament.

She added that officially the GEA and MSME policy would be launched this week: “It has been very important and over the past few years we have been working on an act to support this sector and this would be launched. The Ghana Enterprises Agency will be launched on Wednesday, 9th June 2021.

Along with it would be the launch of the National MSME policy, the first of its kind in this nation. Over the years there have been various papers and policies on industrialization but nothing really on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises giving it direction, plan for growth and strategic position to support the economy.”

Nature of The Agency.

Unlike the NBSSI which was established as a Board, the Agency is a corporate body. This upgrade gives the Agency legal personality recognizable by law, and as such it can hold and dispose of property, sue and be sued, as well as enter into a contract in its own capacity.

Functions of the GEA.

The change in focus from SSIs to MSMEs have been largely implemented through the functions of the Agency. The functions of the Agency include promotion, policy implementation, development of classification criteria and establishment of a service delivery network for the MSME sector in Ghana. It must also facilitate access by MSMEs to financial and non-financial resources including credit facilities. These functions, if well explored would be beneficial to MSMEs.