Sekondi-Takoradi SMEs Fail to Access 900m Fund
September 22, 2006
Sekondi-Takoradi SMEs Fail to Access 900m Fund. Check it out:(Ghanaian Chronicle Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) IT IS incredible to know that of the 900 million deposited in Rural Banks in the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to access and expand their enterprises, no enterprise has ever access it.
This might be due to the inadequate education on the availability of the money to the SMEs in SAEMA and SMEs at SAEMA should therefore rise up to the occasion and access the fund to the fullest.
"Though the funds have been deposited in some Rural Banks, no SME in the Metropolis has benefited from it," Mr. Philip K. Nkrumah, SAEMA Metropolitan Chief Executive said.
He said this at a day's dialogue at Takoradi on Monday on the theme, "The Role of SAEMA in the promotion of SMEs"and organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), with support from the BUSAC fund and the KAB Governance Consult.
He said to avoid tagging the funds as "political gifts," the funds had been deposited at the Western and APEX Banks for disbursement to SMEs.
Mr. Nkrumah said the Youth In Agriculture Programme was also being funded by the Assembly and so far, 132 million has been disbursed to 220 individuals and groups and some 50 million have been earmarked for distribution to the Youth in Aquaculture Programme to build fishponds.
Mr. Nkrumah said the Assembly has a fund for community based rural development and through this programme, individuals establishing their own companies could access between 500,000 cedis to 40 million cedis.
Mr. Nkrumah said land acquisition, regulations and decisions of the Assembly, coupled with communication problems, had affected the SMEs in their attempt to operate.
He said negotiations were still ongoing to formalise a 300-acre land at Kansaworodu and Mpintsin for garage operators in Takoradi and Sekondi respectively.
Participants said the long delays in accessing loans and financial assistance from the Assemblies and Banks by the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) were frustrating and could be attributed to the slow growth of enterprises in the Metropolis.
Mr. Kwasi Afriyie Badu, Chief Executive Officer of the KAB Governance Consult, said the SMEs could be a channel of creating employment for many in the country but it lacked the ability to articulate its concerns.
He therefore called on GJA to advance the interest of Government through this direction, to create employment for the youth.
Mr. Bright K. Blewu, General Secretary of the GJA, said the SMEs were an important tool of socio-economic development and poverty alleviation but its importance had been ignored for a long time.
He said if the SMEs were properly assisted, they could employ, create wealth and assist in implementing many of Government's self employment programmes.
Mr. Blewu explained that dialogue was meant to motivate Journalists to articulate the concerns of SMEs and assist them to evolve new business strategies and unknown opportunities and therefore advised SMEs in the Western Region to patronize the newly introduced Small and Medium Scale Loans Trust.
Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)
Copyright 2006 Ghanaian Chronical. Distributed by Allafrica Global Media.
Related Tags: medium scale, access, SAEMA, saema, million, Assembly
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