MD of Access Bank Ghana, Olumide Olatunji addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the SME
Access Bank Ghana hosted hundreds of SMEs at the AMA gardens from the 8th to the 10th of December for the first-ever SME fair organized by a bank in Ghana. This was done in partnership with Graphic Business.
The three–day novel event was on the theme, ‘Enhancing SMEs’ Access to markets for sustainable growth.
Welcoming the over three hundred (300) entrepreneurs gathered at the AMA Hall in Accra, the Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana, Olumide Olatunji was excited at the impact the partnership has had on SMEs in the country. He said, over the last two years, SMEs have been equipped with critical business tools from the workshops and clinics organized across business hubs in the country.
“We at Access Bank can only look back with gratitude on the journey of impacting the SME sector these past two years. It has been a period of building robust and resilient SMEs to access global markets and continue to significantly impact the Ghanaian economy through capacity building on digitalization, provision of funds, and business advisory among others”.
He lauded the efforts of Graphic Communications in creating access to markets and said Access Bank is committed to supporting this in the long term through physical fairs and digital marketplace. Olumide also commended Graphic for educating over five million people biweekly through their publication of their SMEs in Focus.
“The role of education to building strong SMEs cannot be over-emphasized. The ‘SMEs in Focus’ publications offer a perfect platform for continuous education on important subjects needed for SMEs’ growth”, Olumide added.
The Deputy Minister for Trade, Hon. Herbert Krapa, who graced the occasion thanked Access Bank for the novel initiative and for recognizing the contributions of SMEs towards economic growth. He said the government has provided a platform through the AfCFTA to enable SMEs to reach global markets.
The opportunity he said, has also raised the competition among businesses therefore SMEs needed to be on top of their game to receive the full benefits.
He further reiterated the government’s commitment to the SME sector through the various programmes outlined for them “Duty exemptions support, access to finance through the Ghana Export-Import Bank and the Ghana Enterprises Agency are among government's initiatives for the SME sector”, Mr. Krapa said.
Also addressing the SMEs' gathering, a Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Godfred Bokpin said studies have shown that by the year 2040, the Ghanaian population will reach 45 million and Ghana will need to create 10 million decent jobs from the private sector to sustain the job demand.
Prof. Bokpin, therefore, called for a strengthening of the SME sector to adequately prepare for the demand. He said, “we must be intentional in growing SMEs to become regional, continental, and global markets”, He added that innovative measures such as what Access Bank is implementing are commendable.
Mr. Franklin Sowah, Director of Business at Graphic Corporations lauded Access Bank Ghana for the initiative and assured him that the company will continue to offer the platform for SMEs' growth.
As a go-to Bank for SMEs, Access Bank Ghana remains committed to the promise of providing more than banking to its valued customers. Through constant customer engagements, Access Bank gets to understand their varied needs and helps to proffer solutions to them.
