Gov’t orders public institutions to give preferential treatment

Gov’t orders public institutions to give preferential treatment to indigenous businesses in the award of contracts
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot

Accra, Sept 15, Ghanadot - The Vice President, H.E John Dramani Mahama has ordered all public institutions in the country to give preferential treatment to indigenous businesses in the award of government’s contracts.

Mr. Mahama gave the directive at the launch of the FirstBanC SME Centre in Accra.

The centre being developed by the FirstBanC Financial Services Ltd and its partners will help provide business advisory and technical support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by matching domestic opportunities with international linkages to enable them enhance their capacities to grow into bigger franchises.

He admitted that the private sector has continued to support the government’s initiatives to facilitate the development and growth of SMEs.

Mr. Mahama added that “We have already seen a number of banks shifting their attention to the SME sector by creating specialized units to address their needs.

It is in this respect that the government finds the establishment of the SME Centre by the FirstBanc Financial Services Ltd a laudable one”.

The Vice President noted that the recent efforts by the government to restore macro-economic stability were yielding rapid results and creating a conducive environment for the growth of enterprises in the country.

Robust economic growth Mr. Mahama stressed in any country could not be attained without a focus on policies and programmes aimed at reducing the level of poverty through the empowerment of its human resource base.

Such programmes he indicated should be targeted at addressing the needs of the people by increasing their access to the requisite information and support systems, which would enable them, make informed decisions affecting their lives and well being.

It is against this background that the underlying capacities of the various categories of entrepreneurs in SMEs are significantly enhanced through the provision of professional advisory services that has translated into a turnaround of most businesses.

The Executive Director of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Dr. Baah Boakye announced that the NBSSI was collaborating with the Registrar General’s Department to provide services to enterprises in areas where the department has no offices.

According to him, NBSSI offers business development services in its 110 Business Advisory Centres (BACs) throughout the country.

Over the years, the NBSSI has collaborated with a number of agencies and organizations to fulfill its mandate.

These included the World Bank and the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of Ahmedabad in India, to run the first ever entrepreneurship development programme in the country.

Presenting the SME Facility, a Director at the FirstBanC Financial Services Ltd, Mr. Mawuli Hedo suggested to the government to institute incentive packages for SMEs which would become formal.

Additionally, the government should consider implementing an incentive programme for SMEs which would be transformed into formal including business support seervices, access to government’s credit facilities.

He indicated that would provide BACs to SMEs by assisting them to put management information systems, business plan evaluation preparation, performance review and business recovery.

Mr. Hedo intimated that the Banc would be releasing annual research reports which would measure the perception of quality of services offered by the banks to SMEs.

Ghanadot