Technical Advisor to the Finance Minister, Dr. Abudu Abdul-Ganiyu, has expressed confidence that the Small and Medium Enterprises Growth and Opportunities (SME GO) programme is bound to succeed.
This, according to him, is as a result of the strong oversight that government has given to the programme.
He asserted that, the SME GO is different from other failed financing schemes as it is jointly coordinated by two ministries, having oversight on the different implementing bodies. “Why this is different is our ability to coordinate efforts within the SME financing ecosystem,” he stated.
He posited that, lessons have been learnt from the impediments to the effectiveness of previous SME financing schemes under agencies like the Micro and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) and the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), formerly, NBSSI. For him, bringing all these agencies “under one umbrella with ministerial oversight coming from the Minister for Finance [and] the Minister for Trade and Industry,” will ensure that the challenges are overcome.
Dr. Abdul-Ganiyu said the programme will not be discriminatory, urging small and medium business owners to be ready for the SME GO support. He was optimistic that all qualified SMEs that meet the criteria will be able to access funds once the window is opened. The first batch of beneficiaries are expected to be outdoored by close of September, 2024, he asserted.
The Finance Minister’s Technical Advisor indicated that the initiative intends to address the financial challenges faced by the country’s small-scale enterprises and create opportunity for them to access financial and technical support to enhance their business operations.
He underscored the importance of this support given the contribution of SMEs to Ghana’s economic transformation and development. He said the SMEs which constitutes 90% of all registered Ghanaian businesses contribute 70% to GDP and 85% to manufacturing jobs. Thus, the need to support their growth and sustainability.
Dr. Abdul-Ganiyu was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a sensitization workshop organized by the Ministry of Finance in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry in the Upper West Region to introduce to and educate people on the SME GO programme.
The workshop which took place at the Dellagio Hotel in Wa, the regional capital, on Monday, September 2, 2024, saw about 500 SME owners in various sectors, including agriculture, trade and commerce, manufacturing and processing, construction and dressmaking, in attendance. They were taken through the eligibility criteria and the application process.
The Small and Medium Enterprises Growth and Opportunities programme is a financing package to take care of the SMEs’ funding needs. It has two components: grants and loans provided at interest rate not exceeding 10%.
Government has already secured about GH₵ 8.2 billion funding for the programme, with $4 million from the IFC, GH₵1.4 billion from the DBG, while Central Government is committing about GH₵700 million.
The key implementing agencies include the Ghana EXIM Bank, the Development Bank Ghana (DBG), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the GEA.
Filed by: Hafiz Timbile Adams
