Business

Access Bank committed to building capacity of SMEs

Access Bank Ghana is committed to building the capacity of Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the country to make them profitable and thrive, Managing Director of Access Bank (Ghana) Plc, OlumideOlatunji, has said.

To this end, he said, the bank has organised a day’s workshop for SMEs in Koforidua to build their capacity on digitalisation.

More than 100 SMEs got the opportunity to participate in the fourth edition of the Bank’s capacity building workshop on digitalisation organised in partnership with Open Labs, an Information Technology firm.

The workshop on the theme “Boosting Digital Skills for Emerging Opportunities”, sought to enhance the skills of SMEs to be more efficient in the use of digital tools to position their businesses to attract both local and international opportunities.

Mr Olatunji said Access Bank was contributing greatly to the development of the Ghanaian economy through its support to the sector, which contributed over 70 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Access Bank is proud to be championing the cause of SMEs, a key contributor to Ghana’s GDP. Since 2021, we have supported over 6,300 SMEs with digital skills, business advisory services and financing. Because access to funding is a major challenge for SMEs, we have made the process less cumbersome by excluding collaterals from the requirement needed for our Instant Business Loans and other loan products. I am happy to say that our support is yielding results as attested by many participants of these workshops,” he said.

Jones Darmoe, Zonal Head for Business Banking at Access Bank (Ghana) Plc, in his address noted that SMEs were a priority to Access Bank.

He said between 2021 and July 2022, the bank had reached many SMEs through clinics and workshops held in different locations across the Greater, Ashanti, Western and Central regions and online participants from across the country.

“Research reveals that a major step towards strengthening SMEs is improving access to technology and funding. As a go-to Bank for SMEs in Ghana, Access Bank continues to lead this cause by equipping SMEs with digital skills through capacity building workshops on relevant subjects, aimed at strengthening them as well as meeting their financing needs. Within these past two years, we have disbursed over GH¢50 million to SMEs to boost their capital and provided advisory services to them,” the Zonal Head said.

MrDarmoe said Access Bank remained committed to giving customers more than banking. The bank has over the years developed a deep understanding of customers’ needs, delivering excellent service and empowering them to achieve more through financial inclusion.

Participants were excited about the opportunity offered by Access Bank and thanked them for supporting the sector.

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