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Graphic, Access Bank SME fair today
Over 150 exhibitors will participate in the Graphic/Access Bank SME Fair, which is taking place at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) office complex today.
The fair, which is on the theme: “Enhancing SMEs’ access to markets for sustainable growth”, is targeted at boosting the capacity of small and medium enterprises and their contribution to economic growth and development.
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Owners of SMEs, corporate leaders, captains of industry and consultants in the SME space are providing tailor-made solutions to business advisory services for participating local entrepreneurs regarding challenges confronting their businesses.
In addition, the fair will build on the capacity of SMEs for them to play their role in the national transformational agenda.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, is expected to open the fair.
Follow up
Ahead of the fair, a delegation from the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), led by the Managing Director, Ato Afful, last Tuesday paid a follow-up visit to the management of Access Bank Ghana Limited to discuss, among others, the opportunities and strides made with the SME Clinic, a unique partnership between the two organisations which started in 2020.
The GCGL delegation included the Director, Sales and Marketing, Franklin Sowa; the Director of Finance, Samuel Essel, and the Advert Sales Manager, Mr George Danso.
The Access Bank team that received the GCGL delegation included the Managing Director, Olumide Olatunji; the Chief Operations Officer, Ade Ologun; Head, SME Desk, Eugenia Oduraa Addo; the Business Unit Head, Business Banking, Jones Darmoe; the Group Head, Business Banking, Kafui Bimpe, and the Head of Corporate Communications, Oluwaseun David-Akindele.
Commitment
The visit afforded the two parties to further strengthen the partnership between them and further discuss ways to add value to SMEs, with the aim of creating more jobs and ultimately building the economy.
At the meeting, the GCGL and Access Bank committed to solidifying the strategic partnership between them to provide better chances of survival for SMEs during perilous economic times.
Access Bank Mr Olatunji intimated that the partnership between the two companies had yielded enormous positive results through the GCGL’s platform, which offered value to SMEs through education and telling the positive stories of SMEs under the initiative.
He further indicated that SME clients were looking for institutions that felt their pain and provided necessary solutions to help their businesses grow, hence projecting the stories of such SMEs would go a long way to help them win in the marketplace.
“People are looking for value and value sold in the right way to people who need it and with the right solutions. We hope that with your permission, we can strengthen this partnership, extend it and carry our customers along.
“This is because it is about us and the value that we create for our customers and how we can ensure that as they are growing, we are their preferred partner in their growth journey,” he emphasised.
He said his outfit was excited that the opportunity to work together would be renewed to take the conversation around helping SMEs to a higher level, since feed back from the original project had been positive.
“We are living in difficult times and we just have to be that umbrella for our customers, despite the weather,” he added.
Graphic
Mr Afful, who welcomed the proposal to deepen the partnership, said the GCGL had been able to transcend time because of its resolute relationship with its clients.
“We are not a touch-and-go relationship in the way we work, and that is why we have been around for over 70years,” he stressed.
He added that the GCGL was not strictly a media company but also had deep expertise that reached the total ecosystem, saying the company would put at the centre of the partnership its needed services to ensure at thriving relationship, moving forward.
He further noted that with the uncertainties of the time, it was vital for the two companies to put their shoulders to the wheel and walk the customer and SMEs through their journey, using knowledge and experience as the core enablers of growth.
“Real brands are built in moments of disruptions; true relationships are tested in moments of difficulty.
“We are happy to be here and will do everything that you will need us to do and more to enable this to happen,” Mr Afful said.
He noted that 2023 would be more challenging, but the continent was made up of resilient people, adding: “As a pan-African bank, Access Bank will give the continent the room to go forward to enable the young continent to keep standing out.