Local SMEs absent at GEREU 2012


At the 2012 GEREU fair in Accra, no was seen from the local SMEs although foreign ones took advantage of it.

LOCAL Businesses in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector were conspicuously absent at the just ended GEREU 2012 Fair in Accra.

Interestingly however, SMEs from neighboring African countries were represented at the three-day fair organised by the Ghanaian-German Economic Association (GGEA) for businesses within and outside the country.

The fair is annual event by the GGEA, the umbrella body of Ghanaian and German businesses in the country, aimed at exposing businesses to investors and prospective customers from both countries and beyond.

It is not clear why indigenous businesses in the SME sector did not attend although the event was widely publicised in the media.

The GEREU Fair is rated as an international event, an issue that might have deterred the SMEs from participating.

When GRAPHIC BUSINESS contacted the President of GGEA, Mr Stephen Antwi, he said, “the real answer is I don’t know why they are not at the fair because they are supposed to take advantage of the platform we provide for them to demonstrate their products and services to Ghanaians and the outside world.”

“We extended invitation to everyone; we don’t discriminate in any manner, shape or form. We would have been glad if two or three SME companies were here to take a stand but they are not here and that is unfortunate,” he bemonaed.

“The message out there to our small scale entrepreneurs is that if they want to participate in GEREU, we welcome them and we can always discuss the mechanics or the proper way in which we can get this done,” Mr Antwi added.

“We put out advertisement for companies to come and partake in GEREU, and these Sierra Leoneans took advantage of it and came, he said referring to a group of SME businesses from neighbouring Sierra Leone.



THE SIERRA LEONEAN STAND

Different SMEs came all the way from Sierra Leone to exhibit their wares at the fair. Their products range included textiles, soap, and food supplements, amongst others.

The AMCB Company in Freetown, Sierra Leone which processes lemon into lemon grass oil, tea and soap, was among the many foreign SMEs present at the event.

Its Managing Director, Mr Mark Abdul Saccoh, said told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that he was happy to be part of the fair given the linkages it had created for him and his business.

He said the fair had offered him the opportunity to interact with business partners and hoped that such interactions will lead to partnerships.

“It is good and nice,” said Mr Saccoh who was exhibiting his products in Ghana for the first time.

“We have lots of opportunities, we are interacting with other counterparts from other parts of the country and I think that is a great experience for us,” he added.

According to Mr Saccoh, his company and the other businesses from Sierra Leone came to GEREU 2012 under the flagship of the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA). The SLIEPA is the equivalent of Ghana’s Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and is responsible for creating the enabling environment for indigenous businesses to produce in their home country and export to other countries.

Another exhibitor, Madam Fatimata Timbo of Fatimbo Enterprises, who is into textiles and batik said the fair had always been helpful to her business as far getting customers was concerned.

“I have the understanding of what I can bring and sell or to showcase and that gives me an impression of what people in Sierra Leone and Ghana wants so I can just cut across.”

“Whenever we come and go back, we get some ideas from here because Ghanaians are famous with their ability of creating their own designs,” she said.

She was happy that although the exhibition was highly international they still had the opportunity to come and showcase the few things that they make in Sierra Leone.

BENEFITS FOR SMEs

According to the GGEA President, the Sierra Leoneans who have always been a part of the fair stand to gain much exposure adding “you need to expose your products and services to the rest of the world if you are in business.”

He said they see Ghana as a bigger market than Sierra Leone which can help give them the needed exposure hence they taking part in GEREU every year.

Mr Antwi stressed that “if they are able to penetrate the Ghanaian market and reach out to suppliers from Ghana, then they stand to gain. What we are doing is to link them up to local Ghanaian companies so that they can partner with them and get more benefits from them.”

“I think the exposure is one thing, once you get to the fair, you can be doing business with your fellow exhibitor. After you leave here you get certain machinery that would help you increase the rate of production,” he said.

Thus, Ghanaians SMEs failed to expose their products and explore the possibilities of partnerships offered them at the just ended GEREU Fair in Accra.GB



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