A critical study of the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises’ master craftsmen in the welding and fabrication industry in the Wa municipality

Abstract

Small Scale Enterprises (SMEs) contribute a substantial part to the development of every country especially in the developing countries. In Ghana, they were established before the development or the coming out of large sized and modern size industries. SMEs have attracted much attention in development studies in recent years. In Ghana, the activities of the small scale industrial sector confirm the important role they play in the national economy. Despite the contributions of the SMEs to local economic development, they are faced with many problems. SME operators in Wa Municipality are faced with a number of challenges. Some of these challenges are difficulties with accumulating start-up capital and loan from financial institutions to start up their businesses. Again also, small scale operators are highly constrained in terms of their managerial abilities due to their low background of education. They lack simple book keeping skills that will help them track the progress of their businesses. In addition the field survey revealed that SMEs have limited access to capital and operators’ inability to register their enterprises and also insure them against all forms of risk; limited access to credit by operators; that affects plans that have implications on the growth and expansion of their enterprises and operators inability to compete in the formal sectors with their compatriots who are more formal and operating on relatively larger scales for contracts awards. The study recommends, among other things, the need for the recognition and subsequent formulation of specific and responsive policies and strategies aimed at fostering the growth and sustenance of the small scale sector at the local levels of governance in the study area. It recommends the need for them to build reliable and up-to-date database on small scale businesses based on which informed and responsive decisions can be made to address the challenges of operators.