BoG Governor Outlines Reforms to Ease SME Integration Into Global Value Chains
Ghana’s central bank governor, Johnson Asiama, has pledged to accelerate financial reforms aimed at integrating small and medium-sized enterprises into regional and global value chains, arguing that the country’s competitiveness depends on broadening SME access to finance and foreign exchange.
Speaking at a workshop in Accra organised by the Ghana Association of Banks in collaboration with Afreximbank, the AfDB and the Trade and Development Bank, Asiama said Ghana’s recent macroeconomic stabilisation — marked by disinflation, stronger reserves and improving investor confidence — provides a “foundation on which our SMEs must now thrive.”
He warned, however, that persistent financing gaps, high compliance costs and currency volatility risk excluding local firms from structured supply chains in agribusiness, manufacturing and digital services. “The path to global value chains starts at home,” he noted, urging greater investment in domestic capacity and regional trade under the AfCFTA as stepping stones to global competitiveness.
Asiama pressed commercial banks to move “beyond collateral-based lending” towards cashflow finance, supply-chain models and blended arrangements with development finance institutions. He added that the Bank of Ghana’s reforms — from strengthening bank capital and credit infrastructure to promoting digital rails and green finance — were designed to “equip Ghanaian enterprises with a transparent, predictable environment that enables them to compete confidently.”
The governor also defended recent foreign exchange market reforms, which include stricter reporting requirements, tighter anti-speculation rules and a push for dedollarisation. These, he said, are intended to stabilise the cedi, reduce volatility and provide SMEs with more predictable access to foreign exchange for trade and investment.
“As sustainability becomes a prerequisite for global market access, Ghana cannot afford to lag behind,” Asiama said, urging banks to align lending with green and transition finance.
