Ghanaian official pledges more funds for private businesses

The Ghanaian government will use capital provision to boost growth of the private sector, Minister-designate for Trade and Industry Allan Kwadwo Kyerematen said Monday.

This, he told the Appointments Committee, was part of the government's intended focus on the private sector to lead the industrial transformation of Ghana.

According to him, the government will ensure that the private businesses have access to medium and long-term capital.

"We all recognize that it is not as if the banks in this country do not provide credit and financing, but we know it is the tenure of the credit they provide which is a challenge for our companies," the ministerial nominee said.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), which won the December election, had made the promise of building one factory in every districts during the political campaign.

Kyerematen said providing capital for the private sector was critical to the realization of the One-District-One-Factory pledge.

He argued that providing capital for the private sector would remove difficulties SMEs faced in raising credit through commercial banks.

He called for a case-by-case implementation as "some of the companies may only need marketing support, some may require an infusion of new technology, some may require additional investment capital." Endit