MOBILE MONEY SERVICES AND THE GROWTH OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE ENTERPRISES (SMEs) IN GHANA: SMEs IN THE TARKWA NSUAEM MUNICIPALITY

ABSTRACT This quantitative study investigated the effects of mobile money services on the growth of SMEs in Ghana using SMEs in Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality as a case study. The study sought to answer the questions: which types of mobile money services are SMEs currently aware of and use for their business? How have mobile money services affected the sales revenue of SMEs; and what is the level of service quality of mobile money services in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality? For this purpose, a questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of 150 SMEs owners using a convenience sampling technique. The data was analysed using Statistical Package and Services Solutions (SPSS). Findings were reported using means, frequencies, paired sample t-test and standard deviations. The survey finding revealed that although there was very high awareness of mobile money services, with mobile money service providers- MTN, tiGo Airtel and Vodafon-in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, adoption rate for sales purposes was very insignificant. The survey data did not prove that proliferation of mobile money services have impacted on sales growth among the selected SMEs. The regression analysis proved that the correlation was weak (r=0.01) and it was not surprising that the hypothesis was statistically not significant (p >.0005, sig. =0.311), hence the conclusion that there is no effect of mobile money services on growth of SMEs in Tarkwa Nsuaem. It is recommended that mobile money service providers provide sensitisation on the effective use of mobile money in business to boost the growth of SMEs. That is, more tailored made products must be design by the telecommunication companies to facilitate business transactions at reasonable cost