Minister of Trade and Industry Haruna Iddrisu says he has directed the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) to open regional offices, decentralize its operations and make provision to support Small and Nedium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) across the country.

The minister made the remark at a ceremony organised by Stanbic Bank to announce the liquidation of the loans of 14 customers whose wares got burnt in the Kantamanto Market fire.

The bank also gave the 14 GHC1,000 token each to help them survive as they wait for the market to be rebuilt for them to bounce back.

Haruna Iddrisu took advantage of the ceremony to announce that there is an ongoing revision of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and part of the revision would be to provide protection for SMEs in the country against foreign competition.

He said the new law would provide some substantial equity for Ghanaian local businesses, which go in partnership with foreign businesses in Ghana.

The Minister said “as we revise the law we would expect some package for SMEs would also be embedded in the EDAIF.”

“In fact the policy thrust of reviewing EDAIF is to ensure that it continues to support export as its primary mandate, assist the manufacturing sector and also support SMEs and local entrepreneurs and more importantly agriculture,” he said.

In that regard, Haruna Iddrisu said he had personally directed EDAIF to start opening regional offices to facilitate the decentralization of its operations in such as way that SMEs across the country would be able to access credit from the fund.

“I do not see why accessing credit must be limited to Greater-Accra and the regional capital,” he said.

Haruna Iddrisu argued that the notion that support for local businesses, which do not export is not part of the mandate of EDAIF is wrong because “the local rice farmer who produces for the local market is doing import substitution and conserving foreign exchange in the country, which inversely contributes to export.”

He therefore believes local SMEs deserve support from the EDAIF, stating that President John Mahama’s government is therefore reviewing the mandate of the fund and the focus of GIPC to ensure proper protection, support, survival and progress of SMEs in the face of stiff competition from imports.

Haruna Iddrisu said within that policy review, government would also strengthen the National Board of Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI) to help develop the SME sector to be able to stand competition and support the national development agenda.

The minister also announced that as part of the move, government is going to build big markets across the country to enable local traders meet buyers in a more conducive environment.

He appealed to the members of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA) to work with government in rebuilding the burnt-down Kantamanto Market and other markets across the nation, and promised that once the market is built the original occupants would be given the first opportunity to own stores in them.

General Secretary of GUTA, Abdullah Shaban was grateful to the minister for the new policy review, and he assured him of continuous support from GUTA.

He expressed the hope that there would be fairness in the distribution of stores when the Kantamanto market is rebuilt to avoid any confusion.