Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) attracted by the prospects and opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) have been urged to list on the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX), as it provides them a conduit to fund their growth ambitions in Africa. Established in recognition of the importance of MSMEs to the country’s economy, the GAX’s main purpose is to provide a platform for MSMEs to raise long-term growth capital from investors. And in light of the current economic challenges, especially with high interest rates, equity becomes a more suitable way to fund the recovery, resilience and growth of MSMEs’ in the country, the GSE’s Head of Marketing and Public Relations, Jerry Boachie-Danquah, told the Business and Financial Times in email on behalf of the Managing Director of the Exchange, Abena Amoah. According to him, listing on the Exchange makes it easier for MSMEs to pass due diligence when doing business in other markets, “offering a badge of credibility to all potential partners, suppliers or customers of the MSME or SME”. Currently, there are only six companies listed on the GSE’s established MSME market, GAX – a figure many players in the sector describe as woefully inadequate at a time the country is ramping up efforts to be a major player in the continental free trade area. To reverse the trend and encourage MSMEs to take advantage of opportunities provided by the exchange, The GSE has therefore been holding continuous market development and awareness seminars for MSMEs. “Under various partnership agreements, we also provide training and market-readiness assessments for identified SMEs. The GSE has signed strategic MoUs with the Association of Ghana Industries, Development Bank of Ghana and the Stanford Seed Transformation Network (STN) Ghana. These partnerships allow the GSE to reach SMEs that are members of these groups. The Exchange is open to building more of such partnerships in order to broaden our reach to SMEs in Ghana,” Boachie-Danquah said. MSMEs solution to economic challenge Earlier this month, Managing Director of the Exchange Abena Amoah said the MSME sector is the solution to sustainability of the economy. With over 90 percent of businesses in the country being SMEs and contributing collectively at least 70 percent of the GDP, Ms. Amoah called for the institution of deliberate measures to support growth of the sector. “SMEs are the backbone, the foundation and true engine of growth for the Ghanaian economy…and Ghana will not grow without SMEs growing strongly,” the deputy managing director of the GSE said when speaking at a capacity building workshop for SMEs organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in partnership with the Exchange and Development Bank of Ghana (DBG), under the theme ‘Empowering SMEs with key strategies for resilience and business sustainability’. “It is against this background that the GSE and DBG want to move beyond the rhetoric and work with your association, AGI, to prepare local businesses through capacity-building programmes to raise the much-needed patient and affordable capital to catapult and accelerate their growth and that of the economy,” she added. Tripartite agreement to push MSME sector Already, the DBG has signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the Association of Ghana Industries and Ghana Stock Exchange as part of its mandate to build capacity and empower banks and entrepreneurs through financial innovation and other advisory services to strengthen the ecosystem in which businesses operate. The collaboration seeks to fashion innovative solutions which demonstrate that principles and profits are not mutually exclusive.