The Development Bank of Ghana and the Exim Bank of Ghana are committing GH¢1.9 billion into the develop­ment of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to promote rapid economic acceleration of the country.

Similarly, the Internation­al Finance Corporation is also committing $400 million through financial institutions in the country to solidify the country's position as a leading hub for entrepreneur­ship and investment; therefore the government would continue to be focused on nurturing the SME sector as it played an integral role in expanding the economy of the country. • Participants in the workshop The Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr Stephen Amoah, made this known at stakeholders education programme in Ho, yesterday, on efforts being made by government to ensure the growth of SMEs in the country.

It was under the theme: 'Break­ing Barriers to SMEs Growth,' and was attended by about 400 traders from across the Volta Region.

Dr Amoah said the government's focus on SMEs development was due to its being the backbone of the country's economy and was therefore the collective responsi­bility of all to work hard to ensure the successes of businesses in the country.

The Deputy Minister of Finance said the government was working hard to ensure that SME operators were empowered through capacity building that would drive inno­vations, and create jobs to stimu­late the economic growth of the country.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Kofi Ahinkroah Marfo, said the contributions of SMEs in the economic growth of the country could not be over­emphasised, and that the SMEs accounted for 92 per cent of exist­ing companies, 85 per cent in the manufacturing sector and contrib­uting to 70 per cent GDP.

Mr Marfo said for the SME to thrive in the country, and boldly venture into the Pan-African mar­ket, his outfit was working hard to remove all barriers to the growth of businesses in the country.

He expressed the commitment of government to continue to support the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) with an amount of GH¢200 million for high growth of SMEs through the provision of grants and loans to two years at subsidised rates, and addition­ally the Ghana Exim Bank would also support SMEs with GH¢500 million to cushion businesses.

The Deputy Minister therefore encouraged traders to take advan­tage of the available opportunities to grow and expand their busi­nesses, saying the government was willing and ready to continue to provide the necessary support that boost businesses in the country.

The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, observed that the education programme would pro­mote healthy competition among traders, and create employment for the teaming unemployed youth to reduce poverty in the country.

Dr Letsa urged enterprises to allow their expertise to reflect on their businesses to enable them to unlock the suffering of the many unemployed youth.  FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, HO