Small businesses play significant role to the economic stability and development of emerging economies, and access to financial services is crucial to their growth and performance. This study seeks to ascertain whether microfinance products such as loans, savings, insurance, and education effects small business growth in Ghana. The study uses descriptive and inferential statistics on responses of 248 small business owners for data analysis. Using a multiple linear regression analysis, the study found that all the microfinance product or services positively affects small business growth, and the greatest influence is micro loans. This study contributes massively to exact literature to the growth of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and small businesses in emerging economy, Ghana. The study can assist MFIs to assess the effectiveness of their product or services, and can also serves as a guide to an effective utilization of available scarce resources leading to growth of small businesses in emerging economies.

BackgroundWith the rise in graduate unemployment and the poor linkage between university education and industry, competency-based training (CBT) is gaining popularity in Ghana’s universities as a way of producing business-oriented and well-grounded graduates for industry who are ready to make use of knowledge acquired in university education to establish businesses that will help reduce unemployment in the country as well as working effectively in the nation’s industry and service sectors. With CBT yet to be introduced in most Ghanaian tertiary institutions, information about academics’ perception and willingness to adopt the methodology is crucial. This study examined the perception and adoption of CBT by academics in Ghana using cross-sectional data collected from 300 faculty members of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, 5-point Likert scale, perception index, and the logit model were the methods of analysis employed.ResultsThe results of the survey showed that the overall perception index was 0.49, indicating that generally faculty members of KNUST agreed and had a positive perception of the potential of CBT in instilling in students employable skills. The logit results also showed that the probability of adoption of CBT is positively influenced by participation in CBT workshops, effective supervision of faculty members by university authorities, availability of teaching aids, and availability of incentives. Conversely, adoption was found to be negatively influenced by teaching load and number of undergraduate students per class.ConclusionsWe conclude that provision of appropriate teaching and learning resources that complement adoption of CBT, incentives, and competency-based education training for academics by university authorities and stakeholders in Ghana’s tertiary education will enhance the adoption of CBT methodologies.

This study examined the economic interaction between liquidity and financial performance of manufacturing firms listed on Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Specifically, the study sought to examine the relationship between liquidity as measured by current ratio, quick ratio and cash ratio and firms’ financial performance as measured by return as assets, return on equity and return on capital employed and determine the interactive effects on share value of firms. Data extracted from the audited and published annual reports of twenty-one (21) firms for the period 2008 to 2019 was used for the study. The study used correlation analysis for relationship and ANCOVA modeling for interactive effects. The study found that there was a weak positive statistically significant relationship between return on assets and measures of liquidity; there was a weak positive statistically insignificant relationship between return on equity and measures of liquidity; there was a weak negative statistically insignificant relationship between return on capital employed and measures of liquidity. The study also found positive effects of liquidity and performance on share value. However, the magnitude of interactive effect of liquidity and firm’s performance was much higher that the single effects. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that authorities in listed manufacturing firms in Ghana should try and maintain an ideal level of liquidity that can meet their firms’ operational needs