The Chartered Institute of Credit Management, Ghana (CICMG), is calling for more flexible lending conditions, increased credit capital and stronger financial literacy programmes to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and informal-sector operators.President of the Institute, Evelyn Osei Tutu, says stringent collateral requirements, high interest rates and inadequate borrower education are limiting access to credit, particularly for businesses and individuals in rural communities. Speaking at the 2026 Ghana Credit Excellence Awards in Accra, she urged banks, regulators and policymakers to balance responsible lending with measures that allow more viable businesses to access financing.“It’s making facilities a bit slow when banks are issuing to the SMEs because some of them don’t really have the requirements,” she said.Mrs Osei Tutu acknowledged the importance of credit assessment in preventing defaults but argued that overly rigid lending conditions could discourage potential borrowers.“If we are able to get more capital injected and if the regulators also make things a little flexible. I think we should be able to do more, especially with the rural areas and other markets we manage with the informal sector too,” she added.Mrs Osei Tutu also identified financial literacy as essential to improving repayment rates, saying borrowers must understand their obligations before accessing credit.“You realise that we are very much in a hurry to give out the credits to people, but we don’t tell them the consequences of what you tend to benefit and the things that you have to do right,” she said.She called for stronger education programmes for borrowers and credit officers, alongside improved loan monitoring and recovery systems.“Loans are easy to give but they are difficult in recovery,” she said, warning that inadequate guidance could result in borrowers mismanaging facilities and lenders losing their investments.Meanwhile, General Manager of Emmanuel Cooperative Credit Union, William Atta-Pearce, says credit unions can help address financing gaps among rural borrowers who struggle to meet conventional bank collateral requirements.“Many individuals, particularly those in rural areas, are denied of credit because of issue of collateral, but we as Credit Union, that is where we come in, so that we make credit accessible for such individuals,” he said.He explained that credit unions can extend financing to borrowers who lack property to use as security while relying on their structures to support loan recovery. Mr Atta-Pearce, whose institution was recognised as Cooperative Credit Union Brand of the Year at the awards, called for efforts to expand access to credit regardless of borrowers’ locations.“I think that it’s high time we look at how we can make credit accessible, irrespective of wherever you are, so that people can easily get access to money and that will also help us to grow the economy,” he said.Both credit management professionals stressed the need to improve access to financing while maintaining responsible lending practices, effective borrower education and mechanisms to ensure loan repayment.