Multiple taxation killing small enterprises

Sunyani (B/A) Aug. 13, GNA - Nana Baah Boakye, Executive Director of the National Board for Small Scale Industry (NBSSI), on Wednesday said multiple taxes paid by small and medium scale entrepreneurs is a major obstacle retarding their growth.

He said Government and its allied institutions in the small businesses sector must initiate policies to create sound business environment that would promote the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs).

Nana Boakye said this at a workshop jointly organized by the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) and the KAB Governance Consult and the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC) in Sunyani. The one-day workshop, which was attended by Brong-Ahafo regional members of the GJA and proprietors of small and medium scale enterprises, formed part of a project dubbed: "Using the media to strengthen business advocacy in Ghana". Nana Boakye explained that NBSSI had set up Business Advisory Centres (BAC) that educated MSMEs on business management and urged proprietors to access the Centres' services to promote the growth of their businesses.

He said his outfit had also established a revolving fund, which provided credit facility to small and medium scale enterprises and entreated businesses to apply to enable them expand their businesses. Mr Bright Blewu, General Secretary of GJA stressed the need for the media to establish cordial relationship with small and medium enterprises so as to assist them to thrive. The participants called on NBSSI to re-position itself to better support the development of MSMEs.