SME sector very promising — NBSSI

The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has said the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) landscape in Ghana holds great potential looking at the caliber of people turning to the sector.

Currently, some professionals in the country resort to side jobs and entrepreneurial activities in a bid to earn extra income which is contributing to the development of the sector.

The Director of Women Entrepreneurship Development Department of NBSSI, Ms Habiba Sumani, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on the sidelines of an SME reporting workshop that the sector now hosts a lot of skilled professionals who also focus on entrepreneurship.

“We now have young graduates who think of starting their own businesses after school, there are also pharmacists who decide to go into fashion on the sidelines of their job,” she said adding that indigenous products produced by SMEs in the country are also doing well on the international market

The workshop was organised by the Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA), a group of journalists championing advocacy for businesses in the country with funding from Ecobank Ghana Limited.

“Looking at the quality of skilled people coming into the sector, the landscape looks very promising and it is getting greener and greener by the day,” she said.

The SME sector is a large contributor to the economic development of any nation, accounting for a large share of new jobs created in the country. The current economic situation, with political and economic integration and technological improvements warrants the need to strengthen SMEs so they can improve their productivity, to further contribute to sustainable social and economic growth in the country. 

According to Ms Sumani, the importance of SMEs cannot be overlooked as they serve as a source of high employment generation, makes use of the local resource base and also make a significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

In Ghana, businesses are classified under the SME category based on the number of people they employ and their investment size. She said businesses with employees numbering up to five with investments not more than USD10,000 are classified under Micro businesses. Those with between six to 29 employees with investments below US$100,000 are classified as small businesses. 

Creating visibility for SMEs

The Director in charge of Entrepreneurship Development Department at the NBSSI, Mrs Anna Himbson explained that visibility was a huge challenge to most SMEs as they lack the capacity to pay the huge commercial rates charged in the media.

She said SME operators are not able to project their goods and services in the media to create the necessary visibility they needed thereby affecting their businesses. 

“Poor visibility takes a toll on the SME sector. In other countries, SMEs utilise the opportunities given to them by the media to project their success stories for others to learn from,” she said adding that the media in Ghana must provide a similar platform for SMEs in Ghana especially to project women entrepreneurs.

Although the sector holds prospects, Mrs Himbson said it faces enormous challenges which include lack of managerial skills, bureaucracy, and lack of export skills. She therefore charged the media to use their platform to project the relevant challenges so stakeholders can come to the aid of these local businesses.