INTRODUCTION
Many economic development advocates have stated that for a country like Ghana to come to reach the development heights of the developed nation, they must empower their citizens to break the bond of poverty, which is engulfing them. As the world is gradually becoming a global village most countries in the world are making unending quest to attain a higher level of development that is a type of development where most of its people are employed and are earning enough to subsist and perpetuate its generation. SME’s have an important role on many aspects, such as employment, taxes and innovation that most of times is regarded as something on the responsibility of large firms. In “The Theory of Economic Development” Schumpeter (1934) emphasizes the role of entrepreneur, as a prime cause of economic development, which is development achieved through innovation. Taking this into consideration if the entrepreneur has an important role for development, then this role is achieved through the “institution” that he/she represents.

SME activities that would help to propel development and promote the wellbeing of the citizenry most governments are now playing various facilitation roles in collaboration with NGOs and other stakeholders to enable the private sector provide diverse goods and services, including job creation for the people. Many developing countries have shifted their strategic economic focus to embrace the development of an entrepreneural middle-class with the private sector as the engine for attaining sustained economic growth.

In Ghana, the private sector is also considered as the engine of growth of the economy and mostly of micro, small and medium size enterprises, generally called the SMEs. The SMEs Sector in Ghana is estimated to be made up of 70% of all industrial establishments. They contribute about 22% to GDP and account for about 92% of businesses in Ghana and absorb more than 60% of employed labour force with majority in rural areas (GLSS-3, 2002), placing SMEs squarely at the core of the overall economic policy. It is also estimated that 85% of manufacturing employment and to a larger extent overall employment growth in the country comes from the Sector (National Industrial Survey, 2003). This makes the SMEs the most important sector in the Ghanaian economy

The non-financial problems relate to the enabling environment within which they operate and availability of infrastructure. With regard to enabling environment, high interest rates, heavy tax burden, lack of access to market information and lack of inter-industry linkages between agriculture and an industry are some of the factors militating against their operations. These create a financing gap for SMEs to operate successfully. The current situation however, is worsen by the global credit crunch which affected the ability of financial institutions, government and donor agencies to provide the needed credit facilities to SMEs. A very large segment of the rural and business community still has little or no access to financial services. The government has instituted a number of interventions to improve access to SME credit, such as Ghana Investment Fund (GIF), the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF), Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre, the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) and the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) Credit schemes. These policies aimed at making credit facilities easily accessible to SMEs. Various interventions by development partners, such as the Japanese Non-Project Grants (1987-2000) and Italian Fund (2001-2003) and NGOs have also been instituted to augment the provision of credit at reasonable terms to SMEs. Also, Support Programme for Enterprise Empowerment & Development (SPEED) Facility Funding (FF) (2002-2006) was also introduced by GTZ and DANIDA to support SMEs. But have these interventions being adequate enough for SMEs in terms of solving their financial needs? Has the SMEs been able to access these credit facilities to finance their activities? And has this being beneficial to their activities? This called for an in-depth study into how access to these credit facilities can be a powerful tool to the SMEs into their day-to-day operational activities.
A lack of access to credit from financial institutions also hinders the ability for entrepreneurs in LDCs to engage in new business ventures, inhibiting economic growth, and often, the sources and consequences of entrepreneurial activities are neither financially nor environmentally sustainable (existing for continuing future use). Microfinance serves as a means to empower the poor, and provides a valuable tool to assist the economic development process. However, unavoidably, various barriers and obstacles limit the roles of microfinance, entrepreneurship and sustainability in reducing poverty in LDCs around the world.

The World Bank’s Doing Business Report has thus ranked Ghana at a dismal 115 out of 178 economies in ease of access to credit (World Bank/IFC, 2008). The causes according to Dinye (1991) can be traced to the doorsteps of both the firms and the financial institutions. At the firm’s level, lack of experience in dealing with financial institutions, lack of credit history, low levels of management experience, inability to prepare business plans and difficulty in meeting collateral requirements are the underlying reasons that explain why entrepreneurs are unable to access credit from the banks. At the bank level, the high administrative cost of transacting business with the micro and small scale industries entrepreneurs and the high risk associated with loans contracted out to them account for the inability of the banks to advance credit to micro and small scale industries as expected.

In order to improve on the aggregate level of entrepreneurship and competitiveness of local SMEs, Ghana need to increase access to capital and newer technologies. However, according to Mensah (2004) the most important factor constraining the growth of SMEs is the lack of finance and that SMEs and formal financial institutions in Ghana have had a history of mutual caution in dealing with each other. This is due to high default rates on the part of SMEs and stringent and restrictive conditions for acquiring loans on the part of banks.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Ghana is said to have a relatively long history of government initiatives to promote and finance, small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The contributions these SMEs make to the economic development and growth of Ghana are substantial because so many people are employed by these enterprises. This is so because it is accepted worldwide that the development and growth of SMEs can play an important role in turning the growing unemployment situation around. In the light of foregoing, policies and programmes that would support the development of SMEs are formulated and implemented to better the lives of the citizenry

However, SMEs are considered as high risk businesses because they lack the necessary collateral to serve as security for loans and it is costly because applicants from the informal sector tend to apply for small loans which require the same administrative procedure and oversight that are required for the relatively larger loan requests made by medium or large scale firms. Hence, the co-operate culture of banks and financial institutions are far removed from the informal world of the micro-entrepreneur. Microfinance institutions are therefore expected to fill this gap and provide financial and other business support to micro and small-scale businesses.

The study therefore, is focused to study the effect of Micro Credit facilities to SMEs promotion in Ghana. It also seeks to identify the sector’s innovation and growth potentials and how existing SME financing schemes are being coordinated to ensure effective provision of credit to SMEs.’

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
In the context of the problems highlighted above, the aim objective of this study is to estimate the effects of micro credit on the development of SMEs in Ghana.
Specify Objectives of the Study
However, the specific objectives of the study include: 1. To find out the Source of credit for SMEs in Ghana. 2. To assess the challenges associated with SMEs in accessing credits 3. Analyse the effects of micro credits on SMEs growth and expansion capacity in Ghana. 4. Ascertain the effects of micro credits on the productivity of SMEs operators in Ghana.

RESEARCH QUESTION
In view of above objectives, the following questions were investigated; 1. What is the source of credit for SMEs in Ghana? 2. What are some of the challenges that confront SMEs in accessing credit? 3. What are the effects of micro credits on SMEs growth and expansion capacity in Ghana? 4. How does the injection of micro credit into SMEs operations affect its productivity? HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
The following hypothesis was tested;
There is a relationship between Micro credit and the level of productivity in Ghana
Ho: Micro credits have no significant effect on the level of SMEs development in Ghana.
H1: Micro credits have no significant effect on the level of development SMEs in Ghana.
To test the validity of the hypothesis, Sekondi-Takoradi is selected for the study.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The literature review will be brief but give the reader enough information to understand the role micro credit on the productivity of SMEs. It will include references to previous findings and specific studies similar to the current study, and to relevant methodology. It will includes all literature that is relevant to justifying the study; supports undertaking the study; avoids speculation and unsubstantiated statements; is critical (a critical review does not merely accept previous authors’ conclusions, but weighs them carefully, examining them on the basis of the weaknesses and strengths in the methodologies of the studies being reviewed); is organised under subheadings;

METHODOLOGY
To conduct this study, the researcher would use the descriptive survey research method. This method was chosen in order for the researcher to have the opportunity to describe systematically, the facts, qualities and characteristics of the given population as factual and accurately as possible. The sources of data would be both primary and secondary. Data from the primary source will be obtained from questionnaire. Data from the secondary source includes information from research work of other people, newspapers, textbooks and business journals.
The targeted population for the purpose of this study is the consumers of locally made goods living in Accra. The population sample was however selected using simple random sampling. The sample size of 255 respondents was considered for the study. In order to extract information from the selected sample group, a questionnaire would be constructed and adopted as a suitable instrument for data collection. With the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences, the reliability test was conducted. Chi-square, multiple regression and ANOVA were the statistical tools adopted for the testing of the hypotheses.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
A significant amount of empirical research has been carried out both within and outside the country on the relationship between microfinance and micro enterprise development .It has been observed from the literature, that most research works treated microfinance as a solution to poverty. To the best of our knowledge, the impact of microfinance on Micro and Small Enterprise survival and growth has not been empirically tested in the literature, especially in Ghana. Most researchers in Ghana have also no time to document the nature, mode of operation and processes involved in micro financing. This study therefore becomes significant in filling this observed gap by testing empirically the impact of micro credit on small business growth/survival. The study also contributes to the literature on micro credits and SMEs survival.

Again the research results will be used as guides to policy formulation and decision making input over the years. In view of this trend, the findings of this study would be used as an additional guide by economic policy makers into SMEs in Ghana. The contribution of every Ghanaian towards the economic growth and development of the country cannot be over-emphasised. On the basis of this, the results of the study can be adopted and used as a guide to take more pragmatic decisions.

The study is also of great importance to Microfinance Institutions, in the sense that it is expected to assist the microfinance institutions in assessing the effectiveness of their programmes and to know which variables contribute most to small business growth and survival. The study is expected to assist the microfinance institutions in their credit policy formulation strategies. For owners and managers of micro and small businesses, access to a study like this can aid their understanding of current challenges and reveal the essential factors that promote small business growth and survival and thus enable them to focus on the relevant ones in an attempt to enhance their growth and performance. The study is expected to help the government to validate or reject the choice of microfinance as the main source of financing SME’s in Ghana

SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study provides insight into microfinance and small business survival and growth, as well as provides a measure of the effects of micro financing on small business performance and productivity in Ghana. It covers SMEs that have access to microfinance for a period of at least five years (2008 – 2015).Even though, SMEs operates in all parts of the country and this study was restricted to the Accra. Due to quite sizeable number of people troop in and out of the city regularly. This state of affair had made the district a bit busy for businesses. Besides, there are business opportunities that the establishment of university has brought. There are several SMEs engaged in varied economic activities which require capital injection. The emergence of these related issues make it imperative for the study to be delimited to that place with a respectable representation of business enterprises.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The main limitation of the study is the reliance on information supplied by micro and small business operators who normally do not want to make a full disclosure of their businesses to an unknown person for fear of being subjected to tax payment. In the same vein, most of the small business operators lack proper record keeping practices and do not adhere to standard book keeping and accounting procedures. Some of them do not have the necessary skills needed for sound book keeping, auditing and tax assessment; neither do they employ qualified personnel to undertake such tasks for them. The oath of secrecy between the bank and its customers is another area of constraint in this study. Factors such as economic environment, political instability and government policy on SMEs are considered to have strong effects on SME performance but are not readily available and so constitute a constraint to the study. However, we rely on scientific methods to obtain the data and the analysis is based on superior analytical techniques, which we believe allow us to generalize our findings.

References * Dalitso, K. & Peter, Q. (2000): The Policy environment for promoting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ghana and Malawi. Institute for Development policy and Management, University of Manchester, Crawford House, Precintct Centre, Oxford Road, MANCHESTER M13 9GH. * Daniels & Fisseha (1992), `Micro and Small Scale Enterprises in Botswana: Results of a Nation-wide Survey‟. Gemini Technical Report No. 46, Washington D.C, Development Alternatives Inc. * Daniels, L & Ngwira, A. (1993), `Results of a Nation-wide Survey on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Malawi‟. GEMINI Technical Report No 53. PACT Publications, New York. * Dinye, R. D. (1991), Potentials of Small Scale Industry Development in Rural Ghana, Universitat Dortmund, Dortmund Germany. * Dinye, R. D. & Nyaba, C. F.A. (2001) “Trade Policy and Domestic Manufacturing in Ghana,” Accra: Sapri Research Report, 2001. * Economic Commission for Africa. “Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa: A strategic Framework for Institutional Support.” Addis Ababa: Economic Commission for Africa, 2001. * Feeney, L. S. & A. L. Riding, 1997. Business Owners‟ Fundamental Tradeoff: Finance and the Vicious Circle of Growth and Control, Canadian Business Owner, November.