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The Bank of Ghana (BoG), Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct a study on the challenges hampering the growth of Micro, Medium and Small-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
The nationwide study titled “The MSME Innovative Financing Project,” being conducted by theUGBS would be completed bythe end of April.
The objective of the study is to provide fresh empirical evidence on the financing gap MSMEs are facing and explore innovative schemes that can be deployed by financial institutions to drive the development of the MSMEs sector.
Speaking at a ceremony in Accra yesterday to sign the MOU for the commencement of the project, the First Deputy Governor of the BoG, Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari, said the study would promote understanding of and also provide
anecdotal evidence on the financing challenges MSMEs face in Ghana and the funding gap that existed, and recommend new and innovative ways of closing those funding gap.
“At the end of the day, this study will provide us with reliable document which will inform policy that will encourage innovation in financing the critical mass of the economy, the MSMEs and by that create employment and spur economic growth,” DrOpoku-Afari stated.
The First Deputy Governor averred that credit and credit delivery were critical to the development of every economy,particularly developing economy, such as Ghana.
The Dean of the UGBS, Professor Justice Bawole, in his remarks, said his outfit was excited to be part of the project, adding that it was in line with one of the mandates of the school which was research.
Prof.Bawole said he was hopeful the collaborative programmewould come out with practical solutions to address the challenges facing MSMEs.
The Chief Economist and Head of Research, DBG, DrKwabenaOpuniFrimpong, in his remarks, said the collaboration among the regulator, private sector and academia to come together to conduct a study into the challenges facing MSMEs and come with recommendations to address them was encouraging.
The Principal Investigator of the Project, Professor Eric Osei-Abbey,said the study had become necessary in view of the role MSMEs played in job creation and promoting economic growth, stressing that MSMEs in Ghana created about 90 per cent of jobs and contributed about 70 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
He said it was to ascertain the real and perceived risks associated with financing MSMEs, examine the drivers of Fintech adoption of MSMEs financing in Ghana and to investigate innovative financing arrangements explored by MSMEs in the presence of existing constraints.
