SMEs urged to take advantage of upturn in the economy

By Benjamin Xornam Glover, TEMA                  February 14, 2017 

Small Scale and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) have been urged position themselves to take advantage of the upturn in the economy  or face falling behind their competitors.

Professor. John B. K. Aheto, Professor in Accounting and Finance at GIMPA who gave the advice in an interview with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of a capacity building workshop organised by the Tema chapter of the Ghana Chamber of Commence and Industry chamber said with an  improved confidence level of businesses in the country's economy,  there is the need for business to take advantage of the prevailing conditions to drive their businesses.

He noted that 2017 is already showing signs of being a strong year of growth and thus urged businessmen and women to invest for growth or face going under.

Economic cycle
"For the last two to three years, we have had serious problems with the economy. Depression and recession is part and parcel of every economy no matter what. It happened in the USA, Germany etc but business people should not be discouraged because no matter how long it takes, it will be better" Prof. Aheto admonished.

Prof. Aheto who is also a SME Consultant  said with the improvement in power supply to domestic and commercial users over the past few months  after the debilitating effects of the energy situation and assurances that the country would  soon witness excess capacity, it was essential for SMEs  to take advantage of a resurgent economy to boost their businesses.

He said the current political administration have indicated that it was pro business and more especially, it was pro small scale business hence the the need for SMEs to  see that as an opportunity to grow their businesses and become major players in the economy.

Training is key

The Ghana Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) is an association of business operators, firms and industries with interests spanning every sector of private enterprise in Ghana.

The Vice Chairman of the Tema Chapter of the GCCI, Mr Cosmos Victor Bondzie explained the workshop, the maiden one for its members for this year was aimed at building their capacity in order to better position them to take advantage of the opportunities available in the new political administration of the country to expand businesses and create more jobs.

"With the change of administration, the business climate is looking good and the expectations are very high and the only thing that members of the GCCI can do is to  prepare themselves. If the system has prepared itself already and you are not prepared, you cannot take advantage of the opportunities, so the best is to prepare yourself first to grab any opportunity  that comes your way." he said.

Other speakers at the workshop were Mr Samuel Agyemang, Senior Principal Public Relations Officer,Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and Mrs Teki Akuetteh Falconer, Executive Director, Data Protection Commission who took participants thorough the benefits of media and media placement strategies and data protection principles respectively.

Writer's email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh