Juxtaposition of the Role of Small Businesses and the State in Ghana’s Economic Development

Abstract

The Ghanaian private sector is mainly composed of small businesses. The sector is expected to propel the growth and development of the Ghanaian economy. Unfortunately, the key players in the sector, small businesses, are bedeviled with a multitude of problems majority of which have been left to the highly incapacitated private sector to handle. This paper argues, conceptually, for responsibility of the state in providing the required co-ordination externalities and big pushes that are indispensable to the development of the private sector and ability of the sector to truly act as the engine of growth and development of the economy. This is achieved through review of the importance of the small business sector to global and national economies; how the Ghanaian economy has performed under the dominance of the state and the private sector since independence; and shortcomings in state policy support for private sector development.

Key words: Small businesses; The State; Private sector; Economic growth; Development; Co-ordination