Ho, April 26, GNA-Business registration and its renewal are unpopular among the small-scale business community in the Volta Region This is because of the several rounds of trips to Accra to file for registration and to check on the progress of processing until the receipt of the final certificate.

This concern was raised at Ho on Friday by small-scale business groups at a dialogue with a representative of the Registrar General on how friendly business registration was to micro and small scale enterprises. The dialogue, was arranged by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in collaboration with the Business Advisory Centre (BUSAC), and KAB Governance Consult aimed at "using the Media to strengthen business advocacy" in Ghana.

Out of about 20 participants, less than five said they had registered their businesses while none had renewed such registration certificates in at least the last three years.

They appealed for a waver of the accumulated renewal fees that have to be paid for each year that they had not renewed their certificates. The participants also called for speedy decentralization of the registration system to the regions.

They contended that the registration and renewal fees charged are, for most businesses, equal to money invested and the business turnover for the particular period.

Ms. Vera Bampo-Addo, Principal State Attorney, Office of the Registrar General exhorted small and medium scale business operators to get their enterprises registered and to renew their registration annually in order to be strategically placed to take advantage of current business opportunities.

She said it was not advisable to change business name as a way of avoiding having to pay for the accumulated period of default in renewal. This is because an established business name has the advantage of having the reputation of a more credible and reliable business partner than a new one.

Ms. Bampo-Addo said the Registrar General has decentralized some of its operations except documentation and certification to Takoradi and Kumasi in order to guard against fraud, adding, "we are hastening slowly". Mr. Kwasi Afriyie Badu, Chief Executive Officer of KAB Governance Consult said the appeal by small businesses for a waiver of accumulated renewal fees could be negotiated through evidence based advocacy.