Micro-finance companies have been urged to be more professional by upholding best practices, to become a real catalyst for the growth of small-scale and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Mr Frederick Osei-Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of GMC Consulting Limited, a Business Advisory Firm, said, if efficiently operated, there could be no illusion about their critical importance in job creation and the fight to bring down poverty.
The micro-finance sector had seen massive expansion in recent times, something he said, was good for the health of the economy.
He reminded the sector operators of the dynamic nature and fierce competition in the financial sector and the need for integrity, discipline, time consciousness and the introduction of innovative products to meet the demands of the people.
Mr Osei Mensah was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop on loan recovery being held for them in Kumasi.
The GMC organized the programme with technical support from the UT Collections, a subsidiary of the UT Holdings.
It targeted savings and loans companies, money lending institutions and the credit unions to build their capacity and reduce the risk of loans default.
Topics treated included positive attitude towards loan recovery, effective credit appraisal and disbursement, doing good credit, normal and bad debt recovery.
Mr Osei-Mensah expressed concern over the huge debt portfolio many of the financial companies were grappling with because of bad lending practices and indiscretion.
Their inability to recover monies given out to applicants could lead to their collapse with unpleasant consequences on the financial sector.
Major Stephen Antwi-Boateng, Managing Director of UT Collections, encouraged the companies to assist their workers to undergo regular training to upgrade their competencies and expose them to new ways of doing things.
He said "attitude, integrity and discipline form about 80 per cent of the success story of any organization" and that was why the micro-finance sector should always uphold those values.