IFC partners Chamber of Commerce to support SMEs

The Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has signed a cooperation agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) aimed at promoting cooperate governance practices in the business community. 

President of the Chamber, Dr Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso 1 in an address to the media attributed the collapse of most small and medium scale businesses to bad cooperate governance practices.

According to him, “the corporate governance program will encourage SMEs to adopt sound corporate governance practices as a means to improve performance, increase access to finance and foster sustained growth.”

Bad Corporate Governance Practices has caused the fall of many SMEs in Ghana. Available statistics show that 80 per cent of businesses collapse by their fifth year due to bad corporate governance practices. 

Team lead for the West Africa Corporate Governance Programme of the IFC, Moez Miaoui says the agreement will go a long way revive struggling companies scrambling to keep themselves afloat Ghana’s business market.

“While we (IFC) feel that there is a lot of interest, demand, and traction from the market, we always work with and rely on partners who know firsthand what the challenges are in their specific universe and the needs of their own constituencies. Even SMEs, entities that form the backbone of the economy of Ghana need better governance practices because that is good for business, it is good for shareholders and it good for the economy,” he stated.

The clean-up of Ghana’s Banking Sector was largely a case of bad cooperate governance practices. With strong institutions and cooperate governance, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), are confident the cooperation agreement will firm up business competitiveness and improve confidence in the financial sector.