Eximguaranty Company Ghana held a one-day workshop for banks and financial institutions in the country as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations.

The event which took place at African Regent Hotel last week in Accra was on the theme ‘20 years of guaranteeing credit for SME Ghana: repositioning Exim as a critical partner in financial intermediation for national development’.

The workshop which was also aimed at providing Exim’s priority clients to appreciate its core business, procedures and guidelines as well as legal terms and conditions.

Organisers are hopeful the move would deepen partnership towards developing a strategy to grow Ghana’s SME sector.

Chair of the event, Peter Hayibor, an Exim Board Member, said access to credit is often a challenge for many SMEs, noting that Exim’s guarantee cover is essential for the survival of sector.

Managing Director of Eximguaranty, Zac Bentum, urged Banks to work with Exim to grow Ghana’s economy through credit guarantees for SMEs.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eximguaranty, and Guest Speaker, Felix Ntrakwah, observed that 20 years of providing credit guarantees was worth celebrating since the business was for the courageous.

He stated that financial institutions operate in an economy where loan servicing is not encouraging, a situation he said makes lending a very risky endeavour.

He therefore urged Exim and the financial institutions to work together in order to water down the risks involved in the lending business in Ghana.

Mr Ntrakwah emphasised the need for Exim and financial institutions to see each other as collaborators instead of competitors.

He encouraged financial institutions to take advantage of security offered by Exim’s credit guarantees to overcome the difficulties inherent in recoveries in the case of defaults.

In all 21 representatives from various financial institutions including Access Bank, Ecobank, NIB, Barclays Bank, Stanbic, Fidelity Bank, Royal bank, Sahel Sahara bank, UT Bank, Zenith bank, Unibank, Prudential bank among others attended the workshop.

Participants had the opportunity, during the open discussion session, to ask probing questions put to Resources Persons – Mr. Anthony Dwumah and Mrs. Priscilla Budu with some support from Mr Zac Bentum.