The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Entrepreneurs and Innovation Programme (NEIPS), Mr John Kumah, yesterday advised Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to partner other businesses with similar ideas to enable them to build on each other’s strength.
Speaking as a panellist at the Ghana’s Most Respected CEOs Breakfast Series organised by the Business & Financial Times (B&FT) newspaper in partnership with Vodafone Business in Accra, he said other businesses had similar ideas that could be merged to form a united and formidable business.
Held on the theme “Opportunities for SME’s 2020 and beyond”, the quarterly breakfast series served as a platform for some influential CEO’s, entrepreneurs and thought-leaders to exchange insights on how individuals and organisations take advantage of the business opportunities to become viable and efficient.
The event brought together top business executives and owners including experts in the financial set-up to discuss and propose innovative ideas to better the lot of the banking industry.
Mr Kumah underscored the important role of technology in the market stressing that last year alone, total banking transactions through mobile and e-money platforms in the region was encouraging.
On the challenges most start-ups encountered, Mr Clarence Nartey, Country Director, Invest in Africa, outlined skills, markets and access to finance as major challenges facing most of them, saying this had resulted in the inability of local producers to meet international standard for goods and services.
He implored entrepreneurs to make use of modern technology trends particularly the internet and its vibrant social media platforms to promote their businesses.
Dr Edith Dankwa, CEO of B&FT, in a welcome address, commended Vodafone’s effort to strengthen SMEs.
She admonished participants to take advantage of technology to enable them to bridge the gap between suppliers and buyers.
BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY
