International Experts Discuss SME Charter
02 November 2009
To draw the attention of interested stakeholders and media on the opportunities and challenges in the implementation of the new SME Charter, AGI organised on 29th October 2009, a Forum that brought together voices from the public and private sectors of Ghana as well as the international community on SME development. The Forum, which was part of AGI-BDI partnership activities, was a mixture of panel discussion, thematic focus group work and expert statements.
Towards a More Conducive Business Environment for SMEs in Ghana: "The SME Charter".
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has spearheaded the formulation of the SME Charter, a comprehensive policy framework to assist SMEs with the potential to grow. The SME Charter outlines the roles and responsibilities of Government Agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the Private Sector and Development Partners in creating a more conducive business environment for SMEs. It is based on a participatory process conducted throughout the ten regions of Ghana by both business operators and stakeholders, which was supported by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), ensuring its widespread acceptance and sustainability.
The forum was held at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel, Accra on 29th October, 2009 under the theme "Towards a More Conducive Business Environment for SMEs in Ghana: "The SME Charter". It drew experts from Government Agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the Private Sector and Development Partners to debate innovative approach of the SME Charter and other implementation issues.
The debate and focus group addressed measures of promoting SME development; finding the right balance between financial incentives and capacity development measures for SMEs, effective standards beneficial to SMEs, adequate role of the public and private sector stakeholders in the implementation of the Charter and how it can fit into the general policy framework for private sector development and poverty reduction in Ghana.
Principal speakers were: Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, AGI President, Mr Ibrahima Diouf, Director, Senegal SME and Prof. Dr. Christian Hauser, University of Chur, Switzerland.
Contributions on consolidated findings and policy proposals gave some feedback to AGI and all stakeholders on how to move ahead with the SME Charter.
The AGI pro-actively advocates for a more conducive business climate for business operations. In 2008, AGI started a nation-wide participatory process by conducting a large-scale regional executive opinion survey around twelve themes central to SME development with the aim to develop the AGI SME Agenda. The process involved interviewing well over 1000 SMEs in all the regions of Ghana to lay a plan of action for a better business environment for SMEs in Ghana.
Some participants at the Forum