Some 20 MSMEs receive tablets to boost digital cross-border trade

Some 20 Ghanaian Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) have received tablets and training to boost their participation in cross-border trade, particularly through digital means.This forms part of the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) Cross-Border Cooperation Women in Development Network Project, aimed at empowering women businesses for enhanced cross-border trade in the region and beyond. Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in charge of International Trade, presented the tablets to the beneficiaries in Accra, on Monday, July 29.The event also saw the women traders educated on trade finance and the use of the tablet.Nana Asiamah-Adjei said the devices would help women traders in tracking their cashflow, bookkeeping, connect with investors and financial institutions, as well as suppliers.The Deputy Trade Minkster noted that though women MSMEs dominated cross-border trade, access to trade financing remained a challenge.The ECOWAS project, apart from providing devices to enhance women's participation in digital trade, she said, would create a platform where MSMEs would have access to trade finance through education and technical assistance.Speaking with the media after the presentation of the tablets, Nana Asiamah-Adjei noted that over the years, many women traders had been trained on custom procedures, bookkeeping and social media retailing.She said ECOWAS through the Cross-Border Cooperation Women in Development Network Project was supporting the Ministry to provide the tablets to enable women traders, including importers to take advantage of the new era.She pledged the Ministry's continued support for the operations of businesses, particularly, those in the private sector, including women-led/owned businesses MSMEs to drive economic growth and stability.Pearl Poku, Coordinator, Women's Wing, Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), on behalf of the beneficiaries, expressed appreciation to the Ministry and the ECOWAS Commission for the tablets.'Keeping our monies on us has become a thing of the past through the education and the introduction of digital platforms and access to financial assistance for MSMEs in cross-border trade by the Ministry of Trade. The devices will boost our ability to trade online,' she said.Source: Ghana News Agency