Addressing participants at the Ghana SME CEO’s Summit in Accra, Mr Kyerematen said the Programme would include a comprehensive roadmap for reforms to reduce the time and cost of compliance with business regulators and improve Ghana’s performance in the Doing Business rankings to one of the best in Africa by 2020.

It will also consist of a Centralised Public Consultation Portal to enable government institutions transparently receive inputs and comments on their policies and regulations from a diverse range of stakeholders, including Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs) owners, business executives, professionals, consumers, workers and the public.

He noted that it would also provide an Electronic Registry of Business Regulations consisting of an inventory of all business-related Acts, legislative instruments and administrative notices and directives.

Mr Kyerematen said as part of these processes, a more permanent institutional mechanism would be established for regular dialogue between government and the private sector; adding that “this will begin with a Presidential Business Summit during the first quarter of 2018.

He said to become competitive in the global and domestic market, Ghanaian SMEs should be able to offer high quality products and should also provide excellent customer services.

Mr De-Graft Egyir said Ghana with an SME economy, a sector that constitute over 80 per cent of operational businesses; contributing to over 60 per cent to gross domestic products and being the largest employer of labour force, needed attention ought to be given  from policy direction.

He advocated for the creation of new Ministry for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to bring about business transformation in the country.

“I also humbly propose a 10-year SME Master Plan, that will trigger major paradigm and structural sifts towards an entrepreneurial economy,” he stated.

He said such a Master Plan would address the main constraints of SMEs and put forward a comprehensive strategic plan that would instil resilience and productivity to the sector.

Mr Charles Larbi-Odam, CEO, Deloitte Ghana, said scaling up a business was strategic and multifaceted.

“Thinking should go around capitalisation, business continuation, technology, efficiency and effectiveness of operations, staffing and technology, having in mind possible changes in government policy direction. With the right thinking going into these ingredients, businesses can survive the test of time as they grow,” he said.

Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari, first Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana said early this year, the Central Bank had to address some challenges in the banking sector to avoid potential spill-over effects by closing down two banks.

“And as part of comprehensive measure to ensure we have very solid and strong banks ready to support the transformational agenda of the government, we also increased the minimum capital requirements of all existing universal banks (including those looking to acquire a new banking license) from GH¢ 120 million to GH¢ 400 million,” he said.

“This is to be met by end December 2018. While we expect all banks to be able to meet this new minimum requirement, we are also open to possible mergers and acquisitions with the ultimate having well-capitalised strong banks.”

The Ghana SME CEO’s Summit is the brainchild of Mr Ernest De-Graft Egyir, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chief Executives Network Ghana Limited.

The event, which was organised by the Chief Executives Network Ghana Limited, served as a good frontier to create a nurturing environment for professionals and CEOs dedicated to improve the quality and profitability of their enterprises through shared experiences and personal growth strategies.

The Summit, which was attended by over 200 SME CEOs, sought to combine both knowledge and experience by providing preeminent business opportunities to its members from across the globe all from under a single roof.

It was held on the theme “Scaling-up SMEs for inclusive growth: The CEO and government as drivers.”