Government will have to deal closely with the private sector and structurally align its funding and business support interventions to the cause of small and medium enterprises, especially as the nation seeks to explore the gains of the single continental market, says Clement Osei Amoako, President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI).
According to him, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) exposes the local business landscape to external businesses seeking to set up in the country, hence the need to have in place the right structures to be able to take advantage of the market.
“For us to be able to compete with the rest of the continent, we believe that we must have this package to support our industrialisation drive and to make our small and medium enterprises even stronger,” he told journalists at the closing of a four-day Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS) in Accra.
“The chain of distribution will involve the small and medium enterprises; if we get the giants but don’t have the SMEs, who will be trading under them? It will not work,” he added.
According to the GNCCI boss, the chamber, on its own, has started a credit union and is also soliciting grants from its partners to empower small and medium enterprises to grow and play competitively in the single continental market.
He called for aggressive investments in mechanised agriculture, infrastructural development, and transport systems that will facilitate the movement of goods across the continent.
“That’s the only way we can do seamless business across the continent. We can do the same things we’ve been doing over the years with this AfCFTA; if we don’t change our attitude and put the right structures in place, then we cannot get there.”
Mr. Amoako tasked Africa’s private sector to make the AfCFTA work, as it was the biggest market for the continent, adding that the chamber remains ready to partner with anybody working in the interest of the continent.
The forum assembled experts to advise Africa’s private sector on how to play actively in the single continental market and understand the potential of the market.