Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (GCYE), Sherif Ghali, has disclosed that some businesses in the country are still struggling to incorporate technology in their operations.
According to him, for the first quarter of the year, businesses have been in a survival mode due to the impact of the pandemic. Due to this, he explained the COVID-19 has also altered the buying decisions of customers.
“The first quarter of 2021 has been a bit of a survival situation in as much as the government came out with the stimulus package. However, businesses in Ghana and SMEs are in a stage we call the recovery or survival stage. Right now, it is not operating in a state that we can say that businesses are striving as it used to be; they are all struggling to survive.
“There is no money in the system and that has literally reduced the purchasing power of potential clients; and customers and businesses are not getting the right energy or fuel they need, which is the cash. A lot of school of thoughts will even tell you that, we might need a year or two to fully recover as businesses”.
Digitizing SMEs
Touching on the operation of businesses, he revealed that the pandemic left in its trail the need for businesses to launch into the use of technology.
However, Mr. Ghali noted that, some businesses are yet to latch onto the tech side of doing business.
“You also realize that there has been some rapid growth of technology in our system. Some of the things we were doing, the traditional way, has been changed and tech has taken over. A lot of SMEs in Ghana are still not there yet, they are still not being able to adapt to technology. So, yes, it’s been a rollercoaster for us this quarter, but generally what I will say is that we are only surviving. We are just in business for now to survive”.
Prospects for entrepreneurs in the second quarter
Despite the harrowing incidents from the previous year, Mr. Ghali expressed optimism for the subsequent quarter of 2021.
He opined that, government through the development bank can offer SMEs good access to credit to finance their businesses. This, he noted, will help these businesses survive the remainder of the year.
“The prospect is that, the recovery route is good, we are surviving very well. We are hoping that the development bank that they are bringing on board will be able to help [us] have access to at least competitive financing or credit. It’s one of the things that businesses need now and then the businesses themselves need to be adapting to technology. We need to digitize our businesses, our services and employ certain innovative and creative ways of running businesses.
“However, generally we consider things are getting better. Ghana is even doing relatively better than other institutions given where their businesses are. AfCFTA is also bringing a market and an added advantage. We need to start thinking of [where] we can take our businesses, not only in Ghana”.
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