TITLE:
The Development of Small Medium Enterprises and Their Impact on the Ghanaian Economy
AUTHORS:
Francis Nii Adjabeng, Francis Osei
KEYWORDS:
Economy, Challenges, SMEs, Ghanaian
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.10 No.6,
November
2,
2022
ABSTRACT: The Ghanaian economy is made up of small and medium
scale enterprises (SMEs), corporate bodies and multinational companies. They
together form the medium through which the
economy transacts business activity and grows. The government agenda to
make the private sector the engine of growth is mainly driven by the SME
sector. The SME sector contributes over 70% of the country’s GDP. SMEs have
over the years been very significant to the economic development of most
developing countries, especially Ghana. It is a major form of business and a
major employer making strong positive impact on the economic growth and GDP in
Ghana. This study researches into the operation of the SME development in
Ghana, the importance of SME’s to the Ghanaian economy, the challenges facing
the sector and makes recommendations as to how to resolve these challenges and the impact to the Ghanaian economy. Data was
collected from SMEs from various cross sections of manufacturing, trade,
commerce and service industries. The data was collected through interviews,
questionnaires, publications and reports. On the average the sector was found
to be a major contributor to the GDP, performing very well. Some of the
problems faced by the sector were lack of access to credit facility, inefficiencies with their management,
inability to capitalize on advanced technology, regulatory and legal
constraints. Recommendations are made for the training of the SME owners and managers
as well as for the proper registration and structuring of the SME ventures to
facilitate access to credit and also meet regulatory requirements.