Vodafone committed to empowering SMEs – CEO

CHIEF Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai, has underscored the Telco’s commitment to empower Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to thrive.

Vodafone Ghana has been leading the campaign to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country with its Business Runway event.

The event which is part of the SME Month was on the theme “Good to Great with Vodafone: Innovate, Comply and Expand.”

She indicated that, the survival of such businesses is very important to economic growth as the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patricia Obo-Nai urged SMEs to be innovative and develop solutions that will meet evolving needs.

Board Chair of Access Bank Ghana, Ama Bawuah, charged SMEs to think like corporates but  move like SMEs. She provided invaluable perspectives on the journey to business success, drawing from her extensive experience in the financial sector.

Ama Bawuah urged SMEs to put structures in place and approach business with diligence and discipline.

The Regional Head of Commercial Banking, Anglophone West Africa at Ecobank, Charlotte Amanquah has assured owners of Micro , Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the bank’s continuous support to help grow their businesses into large corporates.

Ecobank, she pledged was interested in “bringing value to your businesses and so we will continue to find more avenues of giving you the opportunity to excel and add value to what you do.”

Madam Amanquah was sharing her thoughts on financial strategies and support systems available to SMEs crucial for their financial health and growth at the 2023 Vodafone Business Runway held in Accra on the theme ‘Good to Great with Vodafone: Innovate, Comply and Expand.’

The event formed part of the Telco’s activities marking the SME month.

Responding to concerns about the high cost of loans and their impact on SME growth, Madam Amanquah said Ecobank helps SMEs find alternatives so they don’t suffer the full impact of the loan costs.

“For instance, for SMEs who are in the business of import goods, we are at a point now where with banking support, the SMEs are able to establish other payment instruments and not incur the interest costs; so we establish letters of credit, we give guarantees, things that will not let you pay the over 20% interest costs but you pay just a small fee,” she explained.

She maintained that, “for Ecobank, it’s the value addition, our job is not just to give money you cannot repay but bring value to you that serves your needs as a customer.”

As a bank, what we look at is your cash flow, your business volumes . We have ways of working in partnership with others in the financial space as well as governmental agencies in the public sector to provide funding support to SMEs.  So we share the risk together while the SME bears the minimum cost till it expands into a large corporate.

This arrangement, she stressed leaves no room for the requirement of collateral. For micro and SMEs we are able to provide funding at the early stages however it is important to recognise that the bigger you become, the more you also have to take your own responsibilities.

For the SMEs, we are able to give funding when we know how you are operating so talk to our experienced team of bankers at Ecobank and you will helped without insisting on collaterals.

Lecturer at the University of Ghana Law School and tax expert Dr. Ali Nakyea took the SMEs through business management and compliance.

He urged them to be tax compliant to avoid harassment from staff of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

Dr. Ali Nakyea tasked SMEs to be conversant with the tax laws to benefit from tax reliefs.