Development Bank also needs to look after young entrepreneurs – CEO of Wear Ghana

CEO of Wear Ghana, Awura Abena Agyeman

Wear Ghana Managing Director Awura Abena Agyeman urged the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the yet to be established Development Bank Ghana (DBG) provides credit to young entrepreneurs to help them develop their business.

According to her, the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are mainly led by women and young entrepreneurs, are generally related to financing, although other types of SMEs may have other needs. Explaining further, she said that her few years of experience as an entrepreneur has given her an understanding of how necessary having money is to drive business growth and keep it running.

“Seven years of business experience made me realize that we needed the money to fund the type of investment, buy assets to run the business and that the new Development Bank should look to us as well. , young entrepreneurs, ”she said.

She made the comments during the second edition of the Financing for Development series at the Research and Advisory Center of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), organized in partnership with Citi TV.

In Ghana, the SME sector accounts for around 92 percent of all registered businesses, employs around 85 percent of the manufacturing workforce, and contributes around 70 percent of Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP).

This shows the important role they play in achieving the socio-economic development of the country. The sector holds the key to accelerating job creation, wealth creation and improving the country’s quality of life agenda, yet struggles to secure financial support.

Some challenges

SMEs have limited access to the market, to appropriate technology and to information on available techniques. The high cost of renting and purchasing facilities, land regulatory constraints among others are some of the problems for SMEs. Although the government has made several efforts to provide financial support to SMEs, funding issues remain a major challenge for the sector.

Miss Agyeman, in her remarks, suggested that some leading SMEs receive funding while others do not. Giving some advice, she said DBG should do proper retooling, check whether or not banks understand the conditions attached to loans and also have the technical expertise.

Meanwhile, Dr Emmanuel Debrah, finance lecturer at UPSA, said in his contribution that all development banks have collapsed due to poor corporate governance and wondered what the government would do with different to ensure the success of the new bank.

“When I heard about the Development Bank, what came to my mind were all the development banks that Nkrumah has built. All are not. The question is, what have we learned from there to guide the sustainability of the Development Bank of Ghana, which is not yet operational. Research has shown that all development banks have collapsed in the past due to poor corporate governance, ”noted Dr Debrah.

But in a response on the same platform, the director of the finance ministry’s financial sector division, Sampson Akligoh, assured that the government is filling all the gaps to ensure the success of the Development Bank of Ghana.

He added that the diversity of partners working with the government to establish the bank is a testament to its sustainability. “Generally, the way the bank was created under the Companies Act gives us a certain level of immunity, so in this case, we don’t have any direct political involvement. Second, we have done everything possible to ensure that the recruitment is done through an independent process, ”said Mr. Akligoh.

The Government of Ghana, in partnership with the European Investment Bank, and other international development institutions have committed to establishing a new development finance institution – Development Bank Ghana – to provide patient capital for the program of development. industrialization of Ghana.