Director of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, says the amount government is injecting to revive Ghana’s Covid-19 ridden business community is unprecedented.

Taking her turn at the Business Runaway Webinar Series organised by the enterprise unit of Vodafone Ghana, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh argues that contributions by government to the private sector far exceeds the 600 million stimulus package.

“You will have noticed that not many countries are moving in to protect their small business. Aside from USA, UK and South Africa, who else? With the Ghana narrative, we must appreciate that the President is doing everything he can to protect the informal sector which constitutes a chunk of the economy.

"This is unprecedented in Ghana’s history and the 600 million stimulus package is just part of an entire Covid-19 alleviation program to safeguard small businesses,” she revealed.

As Telecoms operators provide business solutions amid the pandemic, CEO of Vodafone Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai stated that her outfit is not focused on profits amid the pandemic but rather tailor-made solutions to help businesses rebound.

“In these times, we at Vodafone are most concerned about the businesses of our clients. From waivering charges on transfers to the production of tailor-made solutions for businesses – we are indeed occupied with cushioning these small businesses from the impact of the pandemic. In all this we are very keen on security as well,” Patricia Obo-Nai explained.

Representing Ghana’s entrepreneurs on the panel, CEO of Solution Class, Francesca Brenda Opoku impressed on businesses to “not only look beyond the stimulus package and rather consider a recovery plan.”

Meanwhile, CEO of First National Bank, Dominic Kwame Adu says a default of loans in these covid times could be justified. He told business heads at the webinar that banks are in talks with regulators to redefine Non-performing loans amid the pandemic.

“We will expect some loan defaults in these unusual times. Defining them as bad debts could be inconsistent with the times. For this, the Bankers Association is engaging the Bank of Ghana to redefine Non Performing Loans for the good of clients, businesses and the banking community”.

The Vodafone Business Runway webinar was aimed at empowering Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SMEs) with the requisite skills and opportunities amid Covid-19.

It was in partnership with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), under the theme: After The Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP), What Next? The Way Forward for Ghanaian SMEs.