Winner of 2016 Business Chamber of Commerce Award for Leading Pharmaceutical company, Tobinco Samuel Amo Tobbin has appealed to government to soften their stance on defaulting industrial companies in the country by helping them identify their errors rather than shutting them down entirely which amounts to putting them out of business.

Speaking to Ghanaweb on the sidelines of the maiden edition of the awards, Mr. Amo Tobbin admitted that there is a high possibility for errors and deviations as a young and developing industrial industry with emerging businesses. Detecting these errors and putting in the appropriate measures to curb them and guide the businesses involved is the way forward rather than closing down entirely, a young business which has potential of blooming if nurtured.

“Government should encourage the private sector, encourage the entrepreneurs, those that have the factories, those that are manufacturing, encourage them, you don’t their factories when they go wrong, you don’t kill them out of business.”

“Sometimes because Ghana is now growing in industry, there are mistakes here and there because we are not an industrialists like India and the European countries, Ghana is now coming up and because we are now coming up, there are mistakes here and there, you don’t kill the industry, the institutions should try and help us out, lead us to the right path, direct us, and very soon we’ll have a big industry in Ghana like in India”, he stated.
Mr. Amo Tobbin bemoaned the current situation where private businesses, entrepreneurs and SMEs have to get loans at high interest rates at the banks, making it difficult for them to grow their businesses and flourish. He urged government to invest in private businesses, supporting them with soft loans so they can progress in the business world.

“I advice government that they should give some soft loans to the private industry, to entrepreneurs, to manufacturers, like now you have to go to the bank and take about 30-35% interest on the loans but if the government is giving soft loans to manufacturers and the industry people, they will support us”, he said.

The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) is the representative organ of the business community in Ghana that seeks to promote and protect the commercial and industrial interests in the country.

As part of efforts to foster ethical practices and promote businesses, the Chamber has initiated the GNCC Business Awards to celebrate the very best and finest of Ghanaian businesses that have demonstrated excellence in leadership and innovation in contributing to the socio-economic development of Ghana.