Barriers to business enterprises growth in Ghana

ABSTRACT This study sought to identify the major obstacles to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) growth in Ghana and to determine how the identified obstacles affect business growth. Using a quantitative research design, the study relied on World Bank's data from the Enterprise Survey on Ghana. The factor analysis (FA) was used to reduce the dimensionality of obstacles affecting the operations of SMEs. The study further used the multiple regression analysis to examine how employee and sales growth of SMEs are influenced by the obstacles identified through the FA. The outcome of the regression results revealed that of the nine variables considered in the study, access to finance, tax burden, labour inadequacy and regulations, firm size, experience of owner/manager, and ownership type are the significant factors that influence SME growth in Ghana. The study recommends how these obstacles can be overcome to promote the growth of SMEs.