SMEs Urged To Embrace Technology

Stephen Essien, Director for Tigo Business, has urged Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana to use technology to propel their businesses.

He said SMEs' inability to use modern technology was impeding their growth.

Mr Essien, who was speaking at an SME Clinic organized by Union Savings and Loans in Accra, entreated SMEs to use some of the modern business applications and payment platforms to make them more efficient.

“How many SMEs are using the right tools? How many SMEs have websites and shortcodes, and how many are using good accounting applications?

“The problem with the Ghanaian SMEs is that they start up very small and they want to keep it there which is not like that in Europe,” he said.

Mr Essien said SMEs must invest in technology to grow their businesses, stating that “few SMEs understand the use of technology in business growth.”

He said Tigo Business had invested in various products and services to support SMEs.

“We did a research and found out that most of our SMEs in Ghana don’t have the right support in terms of the finances and technology to boost their business and market themselves.

“So the clinic is to showcase to small businesses how they can use technology to grow their business beyond profit.

“We partnered Microsoft, Lenovo and Itworks to propel businesses and make them profitable.

“We will go to 18 hubs in Ghana to educate businesses about the need to use technology. “We are looking at empowering SMEs to know what technology they can use to grow their businesses,” Mr Essien said.

The SME Clinic brought together over 100 SMEs from Accra to build their capacity on record keeping and understanding macro-economic issues.

By Cephas Larbi
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