Ernest De-Graft Egyir, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana SMEs CEOs Summit, says a 6.3 percent growth rate in the country failed to reduce poverty and improve SMEs.
Speaking to BUSINESS GUIDE in an interview recently, he disclosed: “We live in a country where 92 percent of businesses are SMEs, and yet the growth of the country is not inclusive. So you have a GDP for instance of 6.3 percent and yet poverty is still endemic which tells you that growth is not inclusive.”
The CEO said SMEs, which constitute 92 percent of businesses in Ghana, are not employing people the way they should due to what he termed “disconnect between economic growth and job creation.”
In view of this, a number of top CEOs of leading businesses in Ghana are expected to deliberate on the growth prospect for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) come November 20 at the maiden edition of Ghana SME CEO Summit Forum and Expo slated for Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra.
It is themed: ‘Scaling Up SMEs for Inclusive Growth: The CEO and Government As Drivers.
It is expected to bring together about 300 SMEs, government officials, including the Ministers of Trade and Industry, Business Development, Alan Kyerematen and Ibrahim Mohammed Awal respectively.
According to him, the country’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 6.3 percent was a classic case of growth that woefully failed to be inclusive.
“There are many SMEs events in Ghana but we still believe that there should be a flagship event where the policymakers and the private sector SME CEOs will interact and so envisaged the Ghana SME CEO summit to be a flagship SME platform for decision-makers and practitioners to learn together, share ideas and to build business networks among themselves,” he said.
Notable among the CEOs billed to speak on various topics during the event are Moses Baiden of Margin Group, Yolanda Cuba of Vodafone Ghana, Joseph Siaw Agyapong of Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Charles Larbi-Odam, Deloitte Ghana.
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