The Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) says it will meet with the Ministry of Business Development over the collapse of 20 advertising companies following the banking sector cleanup.
Executive Director of the Association Francis Dadzi explained that the exercise has affected their businesses, rendering some of its members unemployed.
“There are other services that are also critical and good to the economy, that is the services sector which also involves the advertising sector. So we should look at all these things when we’re making all these decisions. As we go along that, how do we also support the other businesses? I think that the Ministry of Business Development would have to be approached to look at some of these aspects of some of these decisions that are made.”
“So we would approach the Ministry to see how best they can provide some leverage of support because they are into encouraging business start-ups and other things which is very good. I’ve seen that there are also other businesses that are already in existence who need some level of stimulus package to be able to manage the kind of challenges that come as a result of some of these financial sector reforms,” he said.
The financial sector clean-up, commenced by the government in August 2017, led to the collapse of nine universal banks, 347 microfinance companies, 39 microcredit companies or money lenders, 15 savings and loans companies, eight finance house companies, and two non-bank financial institutions.
The Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2019 also revoked the licences of 53 fund management companies.
The fund management companies who have lost their licenses were said to be managing a customer base of about 56,000 whose funds run in excess of GH¢8 billion out of the total GHc25 billion of the entire securities sector.
SEC also explained that the revocation is “in accordance with its mandate of protecting investors and the integrity of the capital market.”