Capital provision for the private sector is expected to be one of the cardinal interventions the Ghana government may use to strengthen the growth of the private sector, Minister-designate for Trade and Industry, Allan Kwadwo Kyerematen, told the Appointments Committee here on Monday.
According to him, government will do this by ensuring that the private sector has access to medium and long-term capital to boost their businesses.
“We all recognize that it is not as if the banks in this country do not provide credit and financing, but we know it is the tenure of the credit they provide which is a challenge for our companies,” the ministerial nominee stated.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), which won the December 7, 2016, elections, had made the provision of one million dollars for each of the 27 constituencies, and one factory each in all 216 districts across the country.
Kyerematen, who served in the same portfolio between 2005 and 2007 under the previous NPP government led by John Agyekum Kufuor, told the committee which vetted him that providing capital for the private sector was critical to the realization of the ‘’One-District- One-Factory’’ pledge made during the political campaign.
He argued that providing capital for the private sector would remove difficulties SMEs faced in raising credit through commercial banks.
To assess the competitiveness of local businesses, Kyerematen said: “We would undertake a diagnostic study of companies to see the areas in which they required support in order to tailor the interventions to their specific needs.”
“Some of the companies may only need marketing support, some may require an infusion of new technology, some may require additional investment capital so it is important that we do it on a case by case basis,” he stressed. Enditem
Source: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh
