A project to ensure Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have access to full-time Accounting and Business Development Services at their convenience to minimise cost of services has been launched.
Dubbed: “Jobs for Graduates, Profit for SMEs (JY-PS)”, it aims to improve the entrepreneurship ecosystems by solving key SMEs challenges, which include limited access to investments, low sales, poor financial record-keeping and high loan default rates.
The flagship project by Finance Factory (FIFACT) is in partnership with Tradeline Consult Limited and the National Service Secretariat (NSS).
A joint statement issued by the three bodies said the project will equip the Business Development Officers (BDOs) with sector-specific skills to help the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) unlock and access investment and financing opportunities under JY-PS.
It said, “the project is aimed at raising over $200m investment for SMEs, create 1,600 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs across multiple value chains.”
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), over the next 10 years, only one job will be created for every four young people entering the labour market.
The National Service Secretariat (NSS) deploys about 100,000 young people every year, yet not all of them secure permanent employment after service.
The average 70% of SMEs or startup businesses will collapse within the first three years of operations due to countless limited access to Business Development Services and perceived high cost of service delivery.
The statement said Tradeline will lead to developing robust, scalable and profitable businesses to attract investments for the SMEs, while NSS will support with the deployment of the graduates.
It added that FIFACT was partnering with a consortium of impact and corporate investors, auditing firms and financial institutions, youth hubs, professional business and accounting institutions, Business Associations and a Cluster of SMEs.
It further said the FIFACT model resulted from Tradeline Consult’s successful Business Advisory Service partnership with the Financing Ghanaian Agriculture Project (USAID-FinGAP) in the agricultural sector.
It said the model was fully piloted with support from USDA/ACDI-VOCA under the Ghana Poultry Project across four regions.
“Based on the successful pilot and increasing demand from SMEs and countless job applications from graduates there is a real need to full scale up the initiative through strategic collaborations,” it added.
Impact
It said FIFACT will serve more SMEs who desperately need Business Advisory Services in a cost-effective way, with specialised support for marginalised rural enterprises, female-led businesses and people living with “disability” across the country.
“It will train and deploy 1,600 BDO using a Gender Equality and Social Inclusive strategy over the next five years. This translates to one hundred (100) BDOs, from each of the 16 regions of Ghana out of which 55% will be females.
Each BDO will work with up to 20 SMEs in different sectors like agribusiness, health, education, renewable energy and IT, translating to the target 32,000 SMEs across the country in the next five years,” the statement said.
