Businesses asked to patronise local banks

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB), Mr John Awuah, has asked business owners in the country to transact international business through the local financial institutions in order to reduce risk associated with foreign trade.

He said the bank had observed that foreign trade partners short-changed their Ghanaian counterparts after imposing advance payment on goods imported into the country.

Mr Awuah, who spoke to the Daily Graphic in Accra, at the side-lines of the Trade Business Seminar, an initiative of the UMB, indicated that operating through the local banks would help the businesses to improve their foreign trade practices in a short to long term scale.

“Even though there were varieties of international trade options available to participant suppliers insist imported goods are paid in advance but yet suppliers do not fulfil to the specifications of the agreement,” he said.   

He said due to this, the bank had developed teller-made product to ensure that customers who imported could take advantage and pay their suppliers through UMB locally in order to avoid challenges associated with foreign transactions. 

Trade Business Seminar

The bank held a seminar titled “Enhancing Your Trade Business in Partnership with UMB” aimed at sensitising customers to how to improve international trade practices.

The participants, who were made up of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), were taken through a number of topics that included methods of payment in trade finance, how to mitigate forex risks in trade transactions as well as international trade finance and products.

Mr Awuah said his outfit was very committed to supporting the business community in the country, especially the small and medium enterprises.

He said that was the reason why a series of such programmes and products had been outlined by the bank to help customers grow their business to the next level.

 “As a bank, we consider ourselves fortunate to be partners of your business and we will ensure that your relationship with us becomes a fruitful one,” he said. 

Adding that, SMEs globally contributed significantly to the production of goods and services, and created employment for many developing countries worldwide.

Despite these revelations, the sector, however, is faced with many challenges with the most pressing ones being access to finance and low degrees of innovation as key obstacles limiting growth of the SMEs in the country.

Dissatisfaction of businesses

However, the participant at the seminar expressed dissatisfaction about the country’s economy adding that businesses were straining under the depreciating cedi, increased taxes and the unrelenting power crisis.

“Indeed, the private sector is reeling under uncertainty in the value of the cedi against major foreign currencies as this affects business planning and consequently causing losses to many businesses”, Madam Ivy Aboagye a participant said. — GB