Continental lender African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday announced a grant of 45 million U.S. dollars to support Ghana’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) growth program from 2025.
Solomon Quaynor, Vice President of AfDB, announced this during the launch of the Ghana SME Growth and Opportunities Program in the capital.
Quaynor said the grant was part of the efforts by AfDB to deepen the impact of SMEs on Africa’s economic development.
He said the continental bank would continue to support African SMEs to grow and become champions of business because they are the hidden champions of Africa’s development.
“We want to identify these hidden champions and work with you as you become the African champions,” the AfDB official added.
He said that when the SMEs expand, they will boost intra-African trade to make the African Continental Free Trade Area successful.
“We want to support the SMEs in your value chains as African champions because SMEs will continue to be the backbone of the private sector in Africa,” Quaynor stated.
Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo lauded AfDB for the gesture, adding that it would enable the government to meet the targets set for the program.
“The SME Growth and Opportunity Program prioritizes targeted interventions that support the government’s goal of creating SME champions that can take Ghanaian products and innovations global,” Akufo-Addo intimated.
The government is deliberate about financing for SMEs because most credit models leave them out, said the president.
The president explained that most credit models see SMEs as too large for small business financing and yet too small to attract significant and affordable commercial lending or investment to scale their operations.
He said the program under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in conjunction with some state development finance institutions, would, therefore, bridge the financing gap for SMEs and boost Ghana’s economic growth.