Business Conditions generally satisfactory but financing a major challenge- Survey Reveals

A Business Condition Survey conducted by the Sekondi Takoradi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (STCCI) reports that businesses in the metropolis and neighboring communities were generally satisfied with how things spun out the past months.

Per findings from STCCI’s Second Quarter survey for 2020, about 54.6 percent of business owners were satisfied with the business environment. However, this impression came with some experience of challenges including finance and the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Deputy Chief Executive for STCCI, Benjamin Nii Kpani said financing challenges resurfaced from its second rank in quarter one of the year to be a top challenge to businesses with a rating 0f 29.8 percent for the quarter under review.

“Most of the attributing factors had to do with demand and of course the financing issue…because they have lost revenue to finance their businesses in the first and second quarters,” he added.

Relative to previous quarters, Mr. Kpani indicated that people who felt that businesses were worst this quarter were many, “and this is the highest number that we seeing even during COVID-19 in quarter one, we didn’t see those numbers”

Asked if the COVID-19 Business Support Scheme hadn’t made any impact yet Mr. Kpani answered by stating that access to those credits couldn’t have factored into the perception of respondents given that the scheme was launched after the end of the quarter under review.

Mr. Kpani disclosed that respondents [about 80%] have a positive outlook for quarter three, given that; “some of them are most likely to receive some support via the stimulus package”