Narrowing the Gap in SME Financing in Developing Countries: a Case of Retail Pharmaceutical Companies in Ashanti Region, Ghana

Access to finance remains a key constraint to SME development in emerging economies. Comprehensive data on the SME finance gap is still more consistently collected and monitored over time; however various data sources and studies indicate that small firms rely on internal financing much more than large firms do. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the challenges and the extent of financing of SMEs within the Ashanti Region of Ghana, taking cognizance of the role and contributions of Retail pharmaceutical industries. The sources of materials for the study were both primary and secondary. The purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 250 Pharmaceutical Small and Medium Enterprise owners who operate in and around Kumasi. Primary data were collected by the use of structured questionnaires and interviews were administered to Pharmaceutical Small and Medium Enterprise owners and employees of the companies alike. Secondary materials were extracted from relevant textbooks, newspapers, reports/articles, journals, bulletins and documents presented by corporate financial analysts and policy planners. The study showed that although the pharmaceutical industries were aware of the presence of other financing firms, they could not access loans due to procedures used to source the loans. They are also of the view that government must be actively involved in helping these retail industries get loans. In order to bridge the gap, the populace must be educated on the presence of these other firms and ways they can use to access those funds. In view of the findings, it was concluded that there should be a national policy on SMEs by the government in respect of funding among others in other to educate SMEs in the efficient and effective financial management of their businesses. This, the researchers believe will help SMEs to grow into much bigger industries in the near future. Keywords: Government of Ghana (GoG), Small and Medium scale Enterprise (SME