Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization

MDGs—Global partnership for development
 
About Us
As a non-governmental organization, we aim to provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and turn Suame Magazine into a technologically advanced industrial estate through policy advocacy and business development and training. We help small and medium scale enterprises succeed by providing workers and residents with knowledge, skills, and access to appropriate technology to make their enterprises more competitive.
 
The initiatives developed by SMIDO include an ICT program, which provides artisans with practical computer training and automobile diagnostic training; an engineering program, which creates opportunities to work on large scale projects that are unavailable in small workshops; and the Suame Magazine Industrial Financial Irrigation Scheme, which pools resources and mobilizes these funds to create more opportunities for artisans.
 
Our Community
We work in Suame Magazine, an industrial cluster comprising a working population of 200,000 and 12,000 micro, medium, and large enterprises.  Most of these enterprises focus on automotive activities such as vehicular repair, spare parts, and metal works such as casting and welding, and many enterprises are renowned for their ingenuity.  A key challenge facing the artisans is that technology is becoming ever more important in a world of computerized vehicles and automated machinery, and many of the workshops are lacking the equipment and technical knowledge with which to remain competitive and effective.  Poverty levels are at 25%, one of the highest urban poverty stricken areas in Ghana, and environmental pollution compounds the challenges already faced.
 
Our History
SMIDO was founded in 2006 when a group of Spare Parts dealers felt that their business was threatened by the inability of vehicular mechanics to repair newer cars due to the improved technology.  Together, the dealers and mechanics advocated for technology introduction into the Suame Magazine.  The result was the formation of SMIDO.  Through SMIDO, the artisans could address their challenges through grant support and advocacy.