In a landmark initiative aimed toward boosting Ghana’s financial panorama, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the present day unveiled the SME Progress and Alternative (GO) Programme on the SME Progress and Alternative Summit held on the Kempinski Resort, Accra.
The great programme is backed by a considerable GHS 8.2 billion funding bundle and goals to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), that are pivotal to the nation’s financial prosperity.
President Akufo-Addo emphasised the vital position SMEs play in Ghana’s financial system, highlighting that they represent 92% of companies and contribute 70% to the GDP. Regardless of their vital contributions, SMEs face quite a few challenges, significantly in accessing finance, which hinders their potential for progress and innovation.
“The entrepreneurial spirit of Ghanaians has at all times been a driving drive behind our financial transformation. Our SMEs are the spine of our financial system, and it’s crucial that we help them to beat the boundaries they face,” President Akufo-Addo said.
The SME GO Programme, coordinated by the Ministries of Finance and Commerce and Business, seeks to handle these challenges by way of focused financing options and technical help. The programme’s key parts embrace substantial funding allocations and the institution of supportive infrastructure to bolster SME progress.
Ghana Exim Financial institution: Supported with GHS 700 million, the Ghana Exim Financial institution will supply extremely backed monetary help for each capital and working expenditures. A devoted window for the 1-District-1-Manufacturing unit initiative will even be arrange to make sure optimum synergies with this structural challenge.
Ghana Enterprises Company (GEA): Allotted GHS 230 million, the GEA will goal high-growth SMEs using 100 or extra folks, offering small-scale grants and loans of as much as two years at extremely backed charges. This initiative goals to help companies with sturdy potential for enlargement and job creation.
Growth Financial institution Ghana (DBG): Using GHS 1.4 billion, the DBG will present loans with tailor-made reimbursement circumstances by way of monetary establishments. These loans, with phrases of as much as 5 years, will help SMEs with strong progress prospects.
Moreover, the programme will see the institution of a Meals Innovation Hub on the College of Ghana campus. This hub will help meals business SMEs with fashionable processing gear, warehousing, testing labs, and regulatory help. The hub goals to assist SMEs that lack adequate capital to entry state-of-the-art processing amenities, thus enabling them to scale up manufacturing and meet export requirements.
“The Akufo-Addo Authorities is being intentional about supporting SMEs which can be too massive for small enterprise finance but too small to draw substantial business lending. This initiative goals to create ‘SME champions’ able to taking Ghanaian merchandise and improvements world,” the President mentioned.
The programme displays the federal government’s broader technique to foster a aggressive, modern, and globally oriented SME sector, which is essential for Ghana’s long-term financial prosperity. The SME GO Programme is a continuation of the federal government’s dedication to financial transformation, following earlier insurance policies beneath the post-COVID plan for Financial Progress (PC-PEG).
President Akufo-Addo reiterated the significance of a collaborative strategy involving the federal government, personal sector, and worldwide companions to create a conducive setting for SMEs to thrive. The programme will likely be coordinated collectively by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce and Business, with the Ghana Enterprises Company, Ghana EXIM Financial institution, and Growth Financial institution Ghana serving because the principal implementing businesses.
The Ministry of Finance has efficiently mobilized GHS 8.2 billion from each private and non-private sector sources, earmarked for disbursement to eligible SMEs beneath the SME GO Programme. This funding will likely be disbursed by way of taking part monetary establishments, making certain that SMEs with high-growth potential obtain the help they should increase and create influence throughout their communities.
With this daring step, Ghana goals to boost its long-term competitiveness and guarantee sustainable progress by empowering SMEs, that are the spine of the nation’s financial system. President Akufo-Addo concluded his tackle by emphasizing the necessity for collective effort to interrupt the boundaries hindering SME progress and unleash their full potential for the good thing about all Ghanaians.
By creating an enabling setting that helps innovation, entrepreneurship, and resilience, the SME GO Programme is about to rework the financial panorama of Ghana, driving inclusive and sustainable progress for years to return.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.