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4G operator, Busy, has in line with its strategy to focus on empowering the youth and entrepreneurs, organised the maiden edition of its monthly discussion series that focuses on topical issues that will directly contribute to the growth of the Small and Medium (SME) sector.
Dubbed: ‘Busy Network Series’, the first edition focused on SME-driven policies and initiatives being rolled out by the government, fund management, funding opportunities and how SMEs can take advantage of them.
The Chief Executive Officer of Busy, Mr Praveen Sadalage, said Busy had always championed the cause of start-ups and small businesses.
“From the days when we had a mixed-use facility setup where entrepreneurs without offices or formal addresses could come to work at our offices and take advantage of our business support services, we are looking to scale up our support for the SME market by further creating platforms and providing solutions that will empower them to grow their businesses,” he said.
The Busy Network Series, he explained, would create opportunities for first-hand interactions between entrepreneurs, policy makers and other relevant industry players on topics that will ultimately drive the growth of SMEs within our economy.
He added that having identified the SME market as a major growth driver of the economy, in terms of creating employment, revenue generation for government and wealth creation, it is imperative that purpose-driven Ghanaian brands like Busy see it as a responsibility to create platforms and offer support services that will support the growth of the industry.
The Director of Investments at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mr Edward Ashong-Lartey, re-emphasised the importance of SMEs to Ghana's transformation and growth of the economy.
He noted that due to the government’s resolve to drive growth within the SME sector, it was rolling out several initiatives to support the sector. He said the government was repositioning the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI) which has been set up for SMEs and MASLOC to support the rapid growth of the sector. He also outlined the numerous support services that the GIPC provided and advised that SMEs take advantage of these services.
Speaking on funding opportunities and fund management for SMEs, the Head of Business and Retail Banking at OMNI Bank, Mr Dominic Donkoh, reminded the gathering of funding opportunities available on the market, adding that SMEs must commit to proper bookkeeping and take advantage of the numerous support services available to implement best financial practices within their businesses since this was key among other factors to accessing funding.
