Ghana: Economic Obstacles Fail To Deter Unstoppable Entrepreneurs

Ghana, Accra-The entrepreneurial spirit across Africa is unwavering, according to new research commissioned by Regus, the world's largest provider of flexible workplaces. The international study includes East, North and South Africa.

Small and micro businesses are vital for economic growth but face serious challenges. Even though some might have fallen into business ownership through redundancy, a staggering 85 per cent of entrepreneurs globally reported that given the chance they would do it all over again.The figure tops 90 per cent in Mexico, Germany and the Netherlands. Even at the bottom of the scale, in Australia and Brazil, more than 75 per cent of entrepreneurs would dive right back in.

A past study conducted by the University of Ghana estimates that small enterprises in Ghana provide about 85 percent of manufacturing employment. The study further states that SMEs are believed to contribute about 70 percent to Ghana's GDP and account for about 92 percent of businesses in Ghana.

According to BanjiOyelaran-Oyeyinka, director, Monitoring and Research Division, UN-HABITAT, economies that have had the SME sector make better contribution to GDP have shown consistent commitment to the development of the sector by implementing access to finance and financial incentives, basic and technological infrastructure, adequate legal and regulatory framework, and a commitment to building domestic expertise and knowledge.

This latest Regus research, canvassing over 26,000 business managers and owners in 90 countries, confirms that nimble and flexible entrepreneurs regard lack of access to credit (76%) as the biggest deterrent to setting up a business today. Red tape (74%) and lack of government support (61%) followed.Half the entrepreneurs who took part in the survey also cited the state of the economy and market domination by large corporations as serious hindrances.

Commenting on the findings, Regus VP for Africa, Joanne Bushell says: 'Thank goodness for the Unstoppable Entrepreneur! Who knows what state the economy would be in if they decided to play safe and downsize like a lot of their larger and arguably better resourced competitors. The challenges they face are not new, but they are clearly saying that little impact has been felt from state support initiatives, despite the best efforts of government.

SMEs are 'engines of growth' accounting for up to 99 per cent of businesses and 40 to 50 per cent of GDP. In Ghanain particular,they provide about 85 percent of manufacturing employment.

Globally, 50 per cent of all jobs are generated by SMEs, yet, in spite of this, they attract just a tiny proportion of overall investment across the G20.

Bushell adds: 'Entrepreneurial firms will need to remain nimble to navigate choppy waters and succeed. The lack of institutional support means that business owners will continue to increasingly favour flexible working in order to avoid lengthy leases and free up their working capital so they can concentrate on growing their business.'

'Already, more than half of entrepreneurs are using flexible working locations for most of the week, compared with 39 per cent for those that do not own their businesses.'

The full Regus report can be accessed at the Regus Press Centre: http://www.regus.presscentre.com/

About Regus:

Regus is the world's largest provider of flexible workplaces, withproducts and services ranging from fully equipped offices toprofessional meeting rooms, business lounges and the world's largestnetwork of video communication studios. Regus enables people to worktheir way, whether it's from home, on the road or from an office.Customers such as Google, GlaxoSmithKline, and Nokia join hundreds ofthousands of growing small and medium businesses that benefit fromoutsourcing their office and workplace needs to Regus, allowing them tofocus on their core activities.

Over 1.3million customers a day benefit from Regus facilities spread acrossa global footprint of more than 1,500 locations in 600 cities and 100 countries,which allow individuals and companies to work wherever, however andwhenever they want to. Regus was founded in Brussels, Belgium in 1989,is headquartered in Luxembourg and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

For more information please visit: www.regus.com