GCB Bank Ltd has held its third SME Forum for over 300 businesses in the three northern regions of the country.
This brings to 1200 the number of small scale businesses the Bank has reached with its SME Forum designed as a platform for interaction with customers on various ways they can enhance and grow their businesses as well as sharpen they business management skills.
On the theme “Sustaining SME Opportunities in Today’s Market,” the forum was attended by customers from various sectors of the economy namely the Services, Food processing, Commerce, Industry, and Exports Sector among others.
The Managing Director of GCB Bank Ltd, Mr. Ernest Mawuli Agbesi, said the forum is timely for entrepreneurs looking to maximize returns and enhance the bottom-line.
He gave recognition to the contribution of SMEs to the national economy through employment generation and added that “as Ghana’s largest Bank, we take cognizance of the immense contribution SMEs make to productivity, employment and the optimum use of resources for the benefit of the national development.”
“This underlines our strong commitment to injecting life into SMEs with the right mix of products and services” he said.
GCB has introduced five different types of loan products for the SME sector alone with the aim of creating tailor-made solutions to the varying financial needs of the SME sector.
These are Bridge Loans for all businesses requiring short-term financing and urgent support, Term Loans a customized secure loan for a fixed tenor and repaid in 36 months, Overdraft, Contingent Liability, guarantees issued on behalf of customers and Lines of Credit, a standby facility for businesses to be used within a specified period.
The Head of Consumer Banking, Mrs. Doris Wunu, said GCB continues to set the pace in small business development and was happy that the Bank’s Business Fora is changing the way most entrepreneurs and small business owners are managing their business.
She said GCB has disbursed over GHS22.8 million to about 880 different businesses since the new SME loan products were introduced 11 months ago.
The customers, on their part, expressed their appreciation at the nature of the GCB SME Forum and shared their thoughts on potential business opportunities