Kumasi, Sept 24, GNA- Mr Ekow Afedzi of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), has emphasised the need for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs) to form partnership and pool their resources since that is the only means to ensure growth of their businesses.

He was speaking on "Raising long term capital for development through the capital market", at a one-day forum organised jointly by the GSE and the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI) in Kumasi on Wednesday.

Mr Afedzi observed that SMSEs, which formed part of the private sector upon which the growth of the Ghanaian economy hinges, are not growing and expanding because entrepreneurs were not willing to part with a portion of their ownership to the public by floating shares. He said allowing other people to hold shares in a particular company was a sure means of expanding the company and then earning more money without paying it back unlike loans which attracted high interests and repayment.

He said the GSE assists both the government and companies to raise money through the sale and resale of bonds and shares but regretted that most SMSEs, though qualified to float shares on the stock market were not taking advantage of the offer.

Mr Afedzi called on the business community to invest their money in profitable ventures by buying treasury bills and buying shares, adding, "no money should be left idle".

Speaking on "Entrepreneurship Growth Strategies of Business", Mrs Beatrice Boakye, acting Ashanti Regional Manager of NBSSI, said small-scale businesses are not growing because most of them lacked financial and managerial skills and expertise and it was difficult for their industries to evolve from the income generating stage to entrepreneurial stage to qualify them to join the stock market.

She said other constraints such as lack of banking culture, in appropriate technology and the failure to put a line between business and domestic finances also led to the stagnation of the growth of most small-scale businesses. 24 Sept. 03