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.
