Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country will henceforth witness a major expansion with the launch of the Ghana Institutional Support Programme (GISP).

The GISP seeks to strengthen and make the public sector more vibrant in order to support the private sector in creating jobs and reducing poverty.

The project funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and launched by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in Kumasi, was under the theme “Enhancing the Competitiveness of Ghanaian MSMEs”.

Speaking to Ultimate Business on Wednesday, Executive Director of NBSSI, Kosi Yankey said some 900 SME operators and staff of NBSSI had been trained across the country between March and June 2017.

“This is a nationwide training programme where we have taught business owners to be really focused on their standards, the quality and how to get the right products to export.

“In every region, at least there should be one business that can list on the Ghana Alternative Exchange because the whole idea of this programme is not just training but actually building the capacity of these enterprises where they can access funding”, the NBSSI boss added.

Headquartered in Accra with 10 regional secretariats and 173 Business Advisory Centres (BACs), NBSSI provides a comprehensive package of non-financial and financial services through BACs and credit units of the Board.

Ms Yankey meanwhile bemoaned the little attention accorded SMEs and how it affects their contribution to the economy.

“We talk about MSMEs as the engine for growth of any economy but very little support is given to them and at NBSSI, we are mandated to ensure that we strengthen them. Knowing very well, the needs of this country and understanding government’s agenda of a private-sector led economy, it is very crucial that we have programmes like GISP”.

NBSSI also provides assistance through the Corporate Diagnosis/KAIZEN activities to address the challenges, enhance the strengths of MSMEs and continuously flow up to ensure improvement in their product quality and productivity supported by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).