National AfCFTA Coordinating Office Courts Banks’ Support To SME Sector
The National AfCFTA Coordinating Office has called on banks in the country to provide the financial muscle for small and medium businesses that are seeking to access the single continental market.
“Whatever they have to do, banks have to play a critical role to uplift our businesses from small scale levels. If they should boost their financing to this critical sector of the economy, we will see champions of trade,” Mrs. Catherine Afeku, Head of Strategic Communications at the office told Single African Market.
“Aside the compliance that banks will need, we are asking that they look at it from a different eye by working with sister banks across the continent to get the right guarantees that will enable them to finance intra-Africa trade,” she added.
According to her, the AfCFTA has come to stay and for the reason the Office has over the last months been working on how to reposition Ghanaian businesses for the single continental market.
“One key project we are doing now is going to companies to assess their export readiness and providing the right supports to enable them to do their first shipments, if they are first-timers.
For those already exporting, we are giving them the needed boost to continue and to enhance their competitiveness,” she said.
Mrs. Afeku said the Office has increased the number of inspection officers from key stakeholders including GRA Customs and MoTI to be further trained and deployed to conduct inspections before certificates are issued to businesses that may want to export under the AfCFTA.