Microfinance Impacts and SME’S: Evidence from Ayawaso West Municipality, Ghana

SMEs’ contribute to the Gross Domestic Product of Ghana through employment creation and paying of revenue .SMEs’ contributions in terms of employing people in their businesses make them more productive, leading to poverty reduction. Despite SMEs’ contributions to the economy’s development, obtaining funding or credit from formal financial institutions such as banks to enable their operations is a big challenging for SMEs Microfinance institutions fill the financial gap to offer services such as credit and business training to maximize the impact of SMEs. The purpose of the research study was to assess the impact of Microfinance services on the performance of SMEs in Ayawaso West, Ghana, in terms of profitability, employment, and sales growth. A descriptive survey that employed a quantitative analysis was used for the study. A linear regressions was employed to analyse the data. The finding of the study showed microfinance services (loans and training) had a positive impact on the performance of SMEs. The study recommends that Microfinance institutions should design specific products and services such as loans and business training to make a positive impact on the performance of SMEs.