Some 270 micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) have been supported with a GH₵28,339,752 grant under the Ghana Economic Transformation Programme (GETP) funded by the World Bank.
The GETP grant aims to promote growth within the MSMEs sector – considered the economy’s backbone and providing jobs to over 70 percent of the population. This funding component targets three business groups: youth, women and persons with disability (PWDs).
GEA’s Chief Executive Officer Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, speaking at the grant’s award-signing and orientation ceremony held in Accra, highlighted that the focus is to enhance beneficiaries’ efficiencies through technical support in skills development, good financial management practices, machinery acquisition and increasing productivity.
She mentioned that, so far, the first two cohorts have received both technical and financial support under the GETP; directly impacting about 1,600 businesses with an investment of over GH₵150million.
Senior Social Development Specialist-World Bank, Sarah Antwi-Boasiako, stressed that the World Bank is very interested in MSMEs’ growth in the country.
Finance minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam says the private sector, particularly SMEs, has benefitted significantly from government initiatives aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, accessing finance and opening new market opportunities.
In fact, SMEs have emerged as the driving force behind the country’s economic resurgence, with new data showing impressive growth in first-half 2024. According to Ghana Statistical Service, the economy grew by 5.8 percent – the highest in five years – largely fuelled by the resilience and expansion of SMEs across various sectors.
While acknowledging the challenges they face, Dr. Adam said their entrepreneurial resilience has been a key factor in the remarkable recovery of economic growth this year.
Dr. Adam said initiatives like the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project and Ghana Economic Transformation Project are designed to strengthen the SME sector and position it as a key driver of economic expansion.
The impact of SMEs has been felt across multiple sectors, with industry, agriculture and services all contributing to the 6.9 percent growth recorded in second-quarter 2024.
This broad-based growth, according to the minister, is a testament to the effectiveness of government policies that prioritise private sector development – especially SMEs.
