Media urged to provide platform for SMEs

The event was jointly sponsored by the Deutsche Welle Radio, Mac Dic Royal Plaza Hotel and the Vision FM.

 “If Ghana is going to be an attractive investment destination in the sub-region, we must believe in our SMEs and support them to grow and expand to contribute their quota to nation-building”, Mr Acquah said.

  The Executive Director of the Vision FM noted that the advocacy for media to promote the activities of SMEs in the country had not caught up well with several media outlets.

“Today, many English-speaking radio and television stations have ignored the programmes to promote SMEs in Ghana in spite of the fact that they are contributing enormously to wealth creation and employment”, he stated.

 According to him, the non-commitment of the media to offer a platform for relevant stakeholders to also educate players of SMEs on the various available funds had led to huge funds under the Social Investment Funds (SIF) to go untapped over the years.

“For instance, a large amount of SIF had to be returned to the coffers international donors because many SMEs could not take advantage of the funds to grow and expand”, the CEO stated.

“It is therefore time multinational funds such as the World Bank, IMF, USAID and DANIDA heard the concerns of our small business in order to offer them assistance to grow”, Mr Acquah stressed.

“There is so much help our media could to do to assist SMEs many of which do not have the resources to run adverts on their platforms to promote their goods and services”, he added.

The CEO of Vision FM advised players in the sector to strive to take advantage of courses offered by the tertiary institutions in Koforidua such as the All Nations University and the Koforidua Polytechnic to upgrade their knowledge and skills.

“To really experience any meaningful develop, SMEs must strive to develop a small chamber of commerce to bring on board other industry players to make your voice stronger to attract the best funds”, the CEO advised SMEs.

The Eastern Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalist Association, Mr Edmund Quaynor, who chaired the event, also urged the media and its practitioners to offer the needed support to the SMEs in the region to develop and create employment for the people. 

Story by Nana Konadu Agyeman