Michael Boateng Dormaa-Ahenkro
4 August 2008
Lack of access to financial capital has been a major challenge facing Small Scale Entrepreneurs in the Brong-Ahafo Region, to start or expand their businesses.
This was identified, during a media tour of some small scale businesses in the Sunyani, Techiman and Wenchi Municipalities, by representatives of the Media in Brong-Ahafo, led by the General Secretary of the Ghana Journalist Association, Bright Blewu, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Chairman of GJA, Charles Koomson and the CEO of KAB Governance Consult, Kwasi Afriyie Badu.
The tour formed part of the "Using the Media to strengthen Business Advocacy Project," being sponsored by the BUSAC Fund, and it enabled the media personnel to interact with entrepreneurs, to know the problems facing their businesses, and how the media could be used to address those challenges.
The small scale entrepreneurs cited unavailability of ready markets for their products, due to the influx of cheap foreign products on the Ghanaian market, which according to them, have a more attractive finishing and packaging, as compared to their local products.
The places visited included EKA Food Processing Company and Psalm 37 Footwear Services in Sunyani, Kristo Adom Kente Weaving Center, Darko College of Artisans, Agyenkwa Co-operative Agro Processing and Marketing Society in Techiman, as well as Kings Footwear Centre in Wenchi.
The entrepreneurs complained about lack of accessible long term loans, saying the short term loans granted them by the banks, particularly the rural banks, were not helping their business to grow, but derailed the progress, since enough money could not be accumulated for repayment, which tended to affect the seed capital.
They, therefore, called on the banks to provide them with loan term loan facilities, in order to expand their businesses, to enable them employ more people, thereby reducing unemployment in the country, as well to ensure a reduction in the poverty level.
The entrepreneurs asked the media to help promote small scale businesses in the country, rather than focusing mainly on politics and sports, commending the media for the visit, with the hope that it would generate an effective relationship, between the media and the entrepreneurs in the region, to assist economic growth.
Earlier, at a day's Media Stakeholders Dialogue, the Assistant Commissioner, Quality Assurance and Compliance Division, of the Internal Revenue Services, George Lamptey, noted that the biggest challenge facing tax administration in the country, was improper record-keeping, and subsequently the filing of inaccurate returns by business entrepreneurs, especially those in the Small and Media Enterprises (SMEs) category.
According to Mr. Lamptey, proper and accurate record-keeping by entrepreneurs, would lead to fair assessments, which would help eliminate conflicts between the entrepreneurs and tax administrators.
He appealed to the media, to join the IRS in addressing the issue of improper and inaccurate record-keeping, by educating entrepreneurs on the need to keep proper and accurate records, and declare their incomes truthfully, in order to facilitate a better and beneficial tax administration for all.
Mr. Lamptey said the rules of equity and fairness, dictate that no tax payer, whether small or large, should pay anything more or less than what is fair under the law.
Some small scale entrepreneurs, who were present, expressed their unhappiness about the IRS attitude of locking-up their shops in their absence, over tax payment, complaining that they pay more than what was their fair share of taxes.
The entrepreneurs also expressed concern about the inability of IRS, to educate them on tax laws in the country.
The CEO of KAB Governance Consult, Kwasi Afriyie Badu, said it was unfair for the IRS to lock up shops of entrepreneurs, when all the necessary processes had not been adhered to, adding that even though payment of taxes enables government to generate more revenue to undertake development, the IRS should develop creative ways of ensuring tax compliance, instead of locking up shops.
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