Weija Gbawe MP Calls for Better Finance, Digitalization, and Literacy to Strengthen Ghana’s MSMEs

Hon. Jerry Ahmed Shaib, Member of Parliament for Weija Gbawe and Second Deputy Minority Whip, has urged government and stakeholders to prioritize finance, digitalization, and financial literacy to strengthen Ghana’s micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs.

Speaking in Parliament during comments on a statement marking MSME Day, Hon. Shaib said MSMEs remain the backbone of the economy but cannot grow without targeted support.

“Mr. Speaker because they play very vital roles including ensuring that there is economic growth, there is innovation, there is job provisions and there is sustainable development. But Mr. Speaker MSMEs do not stand on their own. They need support from businesses, from government and from other international bodies to perform the kind of roles they perform,” he stated.

*Access to affordable finance*

The Weija Gbawe MP said the first step is to improve access to funding. “We should improve on their access to finance. How do we do that? By making loans affordable, making grants and investments opportunities more available to MSMEs.”

Hon. Shaib also pushed for greater use of technology by MSMEs. He referenced mobile money and digital platforms as tools that can improve efficiency, but cautioned about poor repayment culture.

“Mr. Speaker if we are able to improve upon the activities of MSMEs we can do better using technology. We should also encourage E-commerce platforms and also even social media to improve efficiency of MSMEs,” he said.

He recounted how some loan defaulters “take so much and they are owing then they abandon it. They throw the SIM card,” and recalled cases where recovery teams “in the night they visit their customers and throw stones onto the roofs of the people who have not paid.” He argued that better borrower vetting, training, and software systems would reduce such practices.

The Second Deputy Minority Whip further called for financial literacy, innovation, research, and infrastructure support for MSMEs.

“There is also the need to improve on financial literacy. Let people know that when you go for facilities the facility is for a particular purpose. You don't go for a facility that you are gonna use for business then you end up using for funerals. Or using to buy funeral clothings,” he said.

“Mr. Speaker we need to encourage innovation, support research, provide the necessary product development and then adopt new technologies to ensure there is competitive nature in MSMEs activities.”