Ecobank Ghana has launched an initiative to offer Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) preferential support in products and services.
The initiative also serves as a platform for adding value to SMEs through information sharing, networking, capacity building and access to markets and finance.
The Managing Director of the bank, Samuel Ashitey-Adjei, noted that SMEs were the bedrock of all economies in the world - developed or developing.
The world over, they contribute significantly to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, foreign exchange generation and to employment creation.
Even though the statistics are not readily available, it is believed that over 70 per cent of all businesses in Ghana belong to the SME sector, he said.
Mr Ashitey-Adjei noted that the very existence of the Ghanaian economy depended on the operations of these SMEs.
“It is partly for this reason that we are gathered to launch an SME club - membership, which will help address some of the challenges that militate against SME development in our nation. The club will serve as a loyalty package that rewards SME clients for loyalty to and business done with Ecobank.
“Today our bank, the Pan African Bank, celebrates our SMEs as we recognise their impact and contributions to the growth of our economy.
The idea is to help build capacity, develop and expand markets, introduce technology, negotiate price discounts from SME services and expose club members’ businesses and products across the world — especially across the ECOBANK footprint in 36 African countries, “Mr Ashitey-Adjei said.
The managing director noted that through this club, Ecobank sought to help develop and grow today’s SMEs to become Africa and the world’s industrial giants of tomorrow.
“ECOBANK has a dual mandate: to make a fair return to our shareholders and to contribute to the economic and financial development of Africa. We cannot effectively contribute to the economic development of Africa without empowering Africa’s most dominant economic players -- the SMEs,” he added.
The Head of SME Banking, Mr Abdulai Abdul-Rahman, explained that the benefits SME Club members would enjoy were in four broad areas: networking opportunities, capacity building, access to markets and access to finance.
He said there would be referral programmes for members.
With capacity building, Mr Abdul-Rahman explained that members would benefit from internally organised seminars as well as external fora to be facilitated by consultants and development partners.
Topics to be treated include succession planning, business management, production and market development, how to keep simple books of accounts, and preparing and presenting bankable business propositions.
Mr Abdul-Rahman added that ECOBANK would facilitate market development expansion for these SMEs through leveraging the bank’s network of 36 countries in Africa as well as representative offices around the world.
Also, members will be sponsored by the bank to participate in trade fairs here and internationally. The bank will work with partners to remove bottlenecks inhibiting intra-Africa trade.
It will also provide dedicated financial advisory service, foreign exchange and interest rate movements, alternate finance channels and other instruments to make life easy for SMEs.