The government has secured a $17 million fund from the SIFTEL Bank of the United States to support and promote the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Deputy Minister of Trade, Industries and Presidential Special Initiatives, Mr. Asiedu Afram, made the announcement on Friday at the launch of the Ghana Small and Medium Enterprise Toolkit (SME-Toolkit) in Accra. He said an additional $500,000 from other donors had been accessed to complement the support by government to SMEs over the next five years.
SME-Toolkit is an Internet website that provides the visitor with vital information about SMEs, articles on best practice, technical information, free software programmes, templates and other useful information for the growth of SMEs.
Mr. Afram said the importance of SMEs to the development and growth of the country could not be underestimated, because about 22% of employment opportunities were contributed by SMEs.