MICRO, MEDIUM PROJECTS LAUNCHED AT WA (PAGE 20)

Story: George Folley Quaye, Wa

THE micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) project has been launched in Wa in the Upper West Region.
The project, which is a collaboration between the government on one side and the International Development Agency (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other development partners, on the other is to support the development of the MSME.
In a speech read on her behalf by the Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, the Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and President’s Special Initiatives (PSI), Miss Gifty Ohene-Konadu, said a total of $118,900 was being provided for the project.
She observed that despite the importance of the sector to the country's economic development, the MSME had had to grapple with many challenges.
She said they included inadequate access to finance, lack of markets and poor market information, inadequate infrastructure, absolute technology and weak managerial capacity.
Miss Ohene-Konadu, was however, of the view that if those results were to be sustained, then there was the need to devote significant resources to develop the private sector and the small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to the deputy minister, in pursuit of this agenda of financially empowering the MSMEs, her ministry, in its new industrial reform and accelerated growth strategy, placed the MSME sector in a pivotal position in the scheme of implementation of the strategy.
"The policy thrust of the ministry, therefore, is the promotion, development and growth of a vibrant, productive and competitive SME sector that generates sustainable employment, creates wealth and addresses spatial imbalance in development," she added.
Miss Ohene-Konadu challenged MSME operators in the region to aggressively pursue and avail themselves of the opportunities being offered under the project by the government.
She expressed appreciation to all development partners for their support towards the project.
The Finance Manager of the project, Mr Welbeck Abra-Appiah, was hopeful that the support offered the MSMEs would go a long way to enhance their capacities.
He urged the people in the region to take maximum advantage of the project.
For his part, the Regional Trade Officer, Mr Haron Morrie, appealed to operators in the selected priority areas to avail themselves of the package.
s