GroFin to rescue SMEs

Growth Finance (GroFin), a multi-national SMEs finance and development firm, has officially opened its corporate office in the country to commence business operations.

The company’s entry into the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) financing sector is aimed at empowering small businesses to grow through access to financing and capacity building programmes.

The SMEs constitute over 85 percent of businesses in the country, but are being hampered by the adoption of inefficient technologies, poor management, inadequate working capital, high interest rates and low margins, and limited access to banks and other financial institutions.

Mathias Dorfe, the Country Manager for GroFin indicated that: “If you are an SME entrepreneur whose business needs term finance of between the Ghanaian cedi equivalent of US$50,000 and US$1.0 million over a tenor of up to six years to grow your business, and also believe expert business support service will help your business growth agenda, then GroFin has come specifically for you.

“GroFin does not use a standard interest rate. Instead, each unique need will be matched to a unique finance solution and will take into consideration the development stage of your business, the projected cash flow and profitability, the risk involved, your own capital contribution and any collateral you may be able to provide,” he said.

Mr. Guido Boysen, Chief Investment Officer (CIO), GroFin, explained that the company‘s objective is centred on its passion for delivering long-term finance solutions and expert support designed to meet the growth needs of the SMEs.

“Ghanaians will find us different from most other financial institutions in the sense that we consider all entrepreneurs for finance, including start-up businesses.

We focus primarily on the credibility of the entrepreneurs and viability of the business. We structure our facilities in accordance with the cash flow potential of the business while we provide business support services which help to mitigate the risks involved in the business. Our support services are designed to enhance the chances for success of the entrepreneur we finance.”

“Most SME businesses fail because they lack the appropriate type of financing and adequate management expertise of entrepreneurs. Even those SME businesses that are doing, we can no doubt do better with appropriate management support services.

“Our local business managers draw on the collective knowledge of a pool of experts across the six other African countries in which we operate, to deliver local solutions that meet the growth needs of your business,” Mr. Boysen.