Gaining access to finance is by far the biggest obstacle
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThose running businesses in sub-Saharan Africa, even in relatively prosperous countries such as Ghana, face a scarcely conceivable array of problems. Chief among them isMr Djameh has many advantages for a would-be brewing kingpin. He studied beer-making in Munich and has worked for Ghana’s biggest brewers. Beer-glugging foreigners love his concoctions. His microbrewery was Ghana’s first.
To ramp up production from a mere 200 litres a batch in 2016, Mr Djameh began looking for about $400,000 to buy bigger brewing equipment and lots more kegs. He applied for an interest-free loan under a special scheme at a state bank and was approved, he says. But the bank then said it had no cash to lend. The cheap-loan scheme was later changed into one that charged 10% interest. That did not deter Mr Djameh, who was keen to reap economies of scale. “Breweries always make money,” he grins.
In World Bank surveys a quarter of sub-Saharan African firms cited access to finance as their biggest obstacle. This is far higher than for other constraints. After years trying to raise money to expand, Mr Djameh is still stuck brewing small batches. To make ends meet, he has long worked as a consultant to aid projects across Africa on how to grow sorghum and use it for brewing. Frustrated, he may focus on this work. That reveals a bitter irony: it is often not just easier, but more profitable, to work for an aid outfit promoting clever schemes to transform African economies than to build businesses that do so.
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