A Case for Regulating Corporate Governance for SMEs in Ghana

Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are an integral part of every nation’s economic activity. They play an important role in nation building. It is believed that as they grow and expand the economy also grows. Corporate governance involves the systems and processes that are put in place to promote accountability and compliance by organizations to ensure value is created for the owners of the investment. Unfortunately, SMEs in Ghana have been left out of the corporate governance idea, because all the regulations and code of best practices on corporate governance concern mostly large corporate bodies and listed firms. With all the challenges that SMEs are faced with, the researcher tries to make a strong case for the regulation of corporate governance specifically for these SMEs to ensure they are better managed.Adopting the literature review method, the researcher reviewed various publications about the challenges that SMEs face in Ghana. Various researchers in this subject matter have established a lot of challenges faced by SMEs, these challenges exist in both the internal and external environments of these businesses. The author is of the opinion that most of the internal challenges are a result of corporate governance lapses, and if these lapses are addressed properly, it would help mitigate the challenges that emanate from the external environment. The recommendation therefore, is that a code of corporate governance for SMEs is necessary to help sustain their survival and growth.