In Ghana, more than 84 percent of all registered businesses fall in this category with a similar proportion of the industrial sector making it into the category. The sector is essential for several reasons including creating jobs, supporting the agricultural and primary commodities sub-sectors and also generating foreign exchange for the economy when a good chunk of the SMEs build up competitiveness and capacity to play in the global or regional marketplace.

The call, therefore, is for Ghana to develop a strong SMEs sector to support the economic development process in ways that can make the country take advantage of opportunities emanating from its relationship with other nations. The Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union is a clear case in point.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic ahead of the 3rd Vodafone African SME Summit, Mr Yaw Asamoah, a promoter of entrepreneurship and convenor of the summit, expressed the belief that the much talked about ‘Africa Rising’ could only be achieved if the continent and Ghana for that matter boasted of resilient and well-run SMEs that could stand the might of those in other emerging economies across the world.

How to achieve resilience

Mr Asamoah, therefore, called on SMEs in the country to embrace best practices to strengthen their operations and compete with their peers to take advantage of the recent enormous investor interest in Africa as the destination for businesses for the next 15 to 25 years.

“Our SMEs should embrace good corporate governance, treat business as a science beyond their interest in the bottom line – profit and loss – to the employment of tested management strategies and human resource development,” he stated.

For our SMEs and businesses to be ready for the competition, “we need to define our businesses the way international bodies such as the World Bank, the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) define SMEs.”

He said holding up themselves to those high standards for SMES, as pertained in the advanced world was the only way local businesses could stand neck to neck with their counterparts wherever they came from.

Summit and definition of SMEs

This year’s Vodafone African SME Summit, slated for October, Thursday, 13- Friday, 14 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, is on the theme: “Entrepreneurship: Becoming a Ready Business” for which expert panels of speakers have been selected to address and discuss. It is a three-in-one event of exhibition, conference and networking.

Organised by events and marketing communications firm, Creative Trends, with Vodafone as the headline sponsor, the two-day event is also supported by First National Bank, Phoenix Insurance, the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), the National Investment Bank (NIB), with Graphic Business as the main media partner.

The Vodafone African SME Summit has raised the standard of defining SMEs beyond the local definition. It considers medium enterprises as those with employees of not less than 300 and turnover of US$30 million a year; small as having not less than 100 employees and annual turnover of US$5 million and micro enterprises as those employing not less than 10 and with not less than US$1 million annual turnover.

Mr Asamoah said those standards were important in helping SMEs in Africa rise to the challenge of harnessing opportunities in a continent regarded as the future of the world, with the youngest population in the world and enormous natural resources that make up about a third of what the world is endowed with.

“If indeed the future resides in Africa, then the measurement of our companies and organisations should reflect that of global standards and definitions,” he stated.

Seasoned speakers

Astute business people and private sector executives have been assembled and they include Professor Pikay Richardson from the Manchester Business School, Professor Matthew Tsamenyi from CEIBS; Mr Dhananjay Tripathi, the CEO oMr Tang Hong, CEO oc and Tang Palace Hotel, and Mr Victor Yaw Asante of First National Bank.