Accra, Feb. 18, GNA - ProCredit, a microfinance company, on Thursday opened a Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) Clients' Business Centre to provide specialized solutions to the demands of players within the sector.

The Centre, being manned by staff trained specifically to handle the issues of customers, will operate on client-manager relationship basis, ensuring that they receive the best investment advice to enable them to contribute to the country's socio-economic development. Ms Edwige Takassi, Managing Director of ProCredit, assisted by Mr Samuel Appenteng, Vice President, Association of Ghana Industries in-charge of SMEs sector, inaugurated the facility at Kokomlemle, which is second in the series, in Accra. The first Business Centre was opened late January this year, at Airport in Accra.

Ms Takassi said the opening of the Centre consolidated ProCredit's commitment to provide adequate short and long-term credit facilities at competitive rates to SMEs, which was crucial to stimulating growth and creating jobs.

She said in view of the peculiar challenges that faced the SMEs, ProCredit, capitalizing on its years of experience as market leader, had decided to give increased attention to the sector to enable it to improve its performance for the development of the national economy. "ProCredit proves once more its innovative approach through the creation of services fully dedicated to SMEs; this gives a more complete meaning to ProCredit's philosophy of 'better banking for everyone,'" she said.

Ms Takassi said the company would continue to provide socially responsible products and services with transparent pricing approach to SMEs, an area which was largely ignored by most financial institutions resulting in the huge financing gap that existed between SMEs and big companies. She mentioned competitive savings accounts and investment products as some other services that the company offered. Ms Takassi said ProCredit would in the next three months open more business centres at strategic locations in Accra and Kumasi to bring the service to the doorsteps of its clients. Mr Appenteng said AGI had decided to engage with microfinance companies in the country to develop specific loan packages for its members who were in the SMEs sector.

He said despite interventions, access to credit as well as its cost was still a major challenge facing industries. Mr Appenteng observed that apart from financing difficulties, SMEs also faced challenges of poor business planning techniques, and called for coaching of players within the sector for improved performance. He called on banks to reduce their lending rates especially when the prime rate and inflation continued to drop. Mr Appenteng also urged government to expedite action on the implementation of the AGI SME Charter launched last year to help address the challenges facing the sector. ProCredit, a member of the ProCredit Group International, began operations in Ghana in 2002, and currently has 23 branches serving 170,000 clients in six regions. 18 Feb. 10