The Chief Executive Officer of Bencyh Pharmacy, Benjamin A. Anyakah, is urging micro and small scale business operators in the Northern Region to position themselves well in order to make good use of banks and micro credit institutions to improve their businesses.
He said SMEs need to cultivate the habit of saving their earnings that will encourage banks and other financial institutions to support them run their businesses more professionally.
Tamale for the past few years now has witnessed tremendous increase of banks and financial institutions spreading in almost every strategic place in the metropolis, yet SMEs still struggle to survive.
Banks such as Fidelity, GT, Access, Zenith, Eco-bank, HFC, Bank of Africa and the latest in 2013 was the Sahel Saharan Bank and the Uni Bank all strategically positioned themselves in the fastest developing city in West Africa.
These financial institutions, according to Bencyh Pharmacy CEO have not been useful to SMEs in the Tamale metropolis and the Northern Region as a whole because of their attitudes.
He was addressing hair dressers, dress makers and small scale business operators at the Ghana Center for Entrepreneurial Development seminar (GHACED) in Tamale.
The seminar was organized by GHACED and Bencyh pharmacy, a sole distributor of Bedita products. Explaining the rationale behind the seminar Mr Benjamin Anyakah said the seminar forms part of the company’s social responsibility of helping entrepreneurs in wealth creation.
Mr Anyankah, who is a native of Northern Region and Daily Graphic vender in Accra, two decades ago, said Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions have a huge potential for businesses and the people in those areas need to change the way of their doing things and stop involving family members in running their businesses.
’’The only thing for the people in the Northern Region is for them to change the way they do things and avoid involving their children and family members in the running of business,’’ he stated.
He added that a lot of people spend more than the businesses accrue without seriously going into the nitty-gritty of their businesses. This, according to him, has negative repercussions on their businesses and needs to be changed.
He stated that he is proud to be a Northerner and will use his vast experience to make positive impact in the Region to improve the living conditions of the people.