Financial services, products should align with MSMEs needs

Mr Michael Kofi Andoh, Deputy Commissioner, National Insurance Commission, has called for financial services and products that align with the needs of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

He said there was a demand and supply disconnect between these services and the needs of the MSMEs, which made it difficult for MSMEs to access them.

Mr Andoh made the remarks on the sidelines of GIZ’s Financial Products Launch event for MSMEs.
The event is on the theme: “Innovative financial products to reduce the MSME financing gap.”

The event formed part of GIZ’s Programme for Sustainable Economic Development (PSED) project, an intervention that seeks to address MSMEs access to finance challenge.

“Financial service providers have what it takes to provide financial services and MSMEs also need these products. However, there is disconnect between this demand and supply, hence, this project by GIZ to build capacities of companies to design tailored-made services for MSMEs,” he said.

Mr Andoh called on financial institutions to educate and build capacities of MSMEs to understand their financial services and products for easy accessibility to scale up their operations.

He said access to financial services was a major challenge most MSMEs faced in their operations, adding that, they did not have full understanding of the range and requirements for financial products, including insurance.

Mr Detlev Axel Jahn, the Programme Manager of PSED, GIZ Ghana, said the goal of the financial products initiative was to reduce the financing gap of MSMEs in the country.

“The objective is to improve MSME access to financial services through support to enhance the supply of need-based financial and insurance products and services, together with accompanying measures top develop the capacity of MSMEs to access and benefit from these products and services,” he added.

He said the programme in the end would enable them to save and invest efficiently to grow their businesses and create more jobs.

The event provided financial service providers, regulators, and customers the chance to learn more about the benefits of new products and discuss how to improve MSMEs’ access to financial services.
About 80 per cent of Ghana’s working population is employed by MSMEs; however, access to finance is a major obstacle for them.