The Impact of Government Financial Support Agencies on Small Business Development in Ghana

Abstract

Even though Ghana has been described as a model of entrepreneurship, the country has still not been able to find answers to the problems that confront the small business sector as a result of competition posed by the influx of cheaper foreign goods. The cost of burrowing remains one of the highest in the sub-region. The sector continues to sink deeper and deeper even though government support institutions for the sector such as the NBSSI, EDIF, MASLOC, Gratis Foundation and the Ghana Chamber of commerce have all widened their scope of operations as a means of curtailing these challenges. There was therefore the need to conduct a research to establish the impact of government financial support agencies on the small business development in Ghana. The study adopted both primary and secondary data. The simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 60 owner managers of small businesses in the New Juabeng Municipality for the interview. The study found out that the impact of government financial support agencies on small businesses have largely been low due to low funding of these agencies, poor awareness of the agencies, and favouritism in the disbursement of funds.

Keywords: Small Business Development, Government Financial Support Agencies