The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced that it is partnering with the Government of Ghana to roll out digital gateways aimed at easing access to registration, finance, and market opportunities for Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
This was announced by Shaima Hussein, UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative in Ghana, at the national commemoration of MSMEs Day on Friday, June 27, in Accra.
The move, she said, comes as a solution to the many challenges MSMEs in Ghana face, ranging from tedious registration processes and limited access to finance to low digital literacy and weak market linkages.
“MSMEs’ challenge starts from the registration, the administrative access, the being recognized, the tax ID… even the taxation that we talk about in terms of how the taxation is structured around the revenues they make,” Madam Hussein said.
She noted that even though Ghana’s MSME sector is expanding, many businesses still struggle to access credit and digital tools to improve their operations.
According to the UNDP official, the new digital gateways being developed in collaboration with the government will serve as a one-stop-shop for business registration and information sharing.
“We speak today about digital gateways that we’re launching with the government. It aims to be one stop shop to facilitate registration and also exchange of information,” she stated.
The celebration, held under the theme “Connecting the Entrepreneurs: Unlocking Digital Opportunities for MSMEs,” was hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry (MoTAD) and the UN in Ghana, with support from the UN Joint Programme Leveraging Digital Ecosystems for Increased MSME Productivity.
Delivering the keynote address at the event, Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, outlined initiatives to simplify business registration, enhance digital platforms, and provide affordable credit for the sector players.
