Boosting local production; consuming what we produce and reducing imports have been tipped as critical in stabilizing the economy. The Ghana Cedi has been on the down-low the whole of this year, a situation blamed on excessive dependence on imports. Government has been urged to focus on local industries and Small Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to boost their capacity.

Speak to any SME and they will complain about high cost of production and lack of funding being major challenges. At least those are some of the sentiments expressed by such small businesses participating in the Unions Savings and Loans month’s SME clinic.

Head of Business Division at Union Savings and Loans, Dominic Donkor admits that is major headache for clients the financial firm engages. The situation has further been worsened by the foreign exchange losses as a result of the plummeting Cedi.

“On one part we have been talking to them about risk management, and identifying long term business opportunities. And that’s why we put this clinic together to help them preserve their capital and still remain profitable” Dominic Donkor tells JOY BUSINESS.

Unions Savings and Loans is further engaging majority of its clients managing small businesses and potential customers who are into local production to discuss ways in which they can be helped to boost production

“We know that for them to do that they need to, they have to acquire equipment, machinery and battery and these things are capital intensive. We want to enter into partnership with them so Union can provide funding opportunities and together with their expertise and knowledge they can increase local production in the long term and strengthen this currency” Dominic Donkor added.

The September edition of the Union Savings and Loans SME clinic was graced by Economist, Dr. Settor Amediku who is also with the Financial Stability Department of the Bank of Ghana. He urged the SMEs to develop a one page policy document which would help them manage the risks associated with recent foreign exchange losses.