The NBSSI MasterCard Foundation Recovery and Resilience Program for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, has disclosed businesses will be able to secure funds from the program after its launch on Wednesday, 12 August, 2020.
Speaking in an interview, Executive Director of the NBSSI, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, rationalized that interaction with MasterCard Foundation about aid to MSMEs has necessitated the act.
“…So other people have come on to support and complement government’s efforts. One of them is the MasterCard foundation that we have a partnership with, and during this challenge, we spoke to them and shared with them how we were going to support businesses and SMEs, and they brought a top up of about ninety million Ghana cedis to complement government’s efforts; this time for resilience and recovery.
Mrs Kosi Yankeh-Ayeh
“And so we will start working on that so that those who might not even have benefited from government will also have access and it will help build the businesses and help them, the soft launch is this coming Wednesday, 12th August, 2020″.
In a statement issued, on the NBSSI MasterCard Foundation Recovery and Resilience Program, it indicated that the primary focus of the program will be on supporting MSME’s whose businesses are in a dire strait as a result of the grueling impact of the pandemic which has grounded most businesses.
As part of their objectives, businesses in growth sectors where the employment of young people, especially young women, to be negatively impacted as a result of business operation disruptions, supply chain challenges, liquidity shortages, declining sales and profits, and business closures will be attended to.
MasterCard Foundation, in partnership with the National Board for Small Scale Industries, an agency under Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, announced the creation of the Emergency Program to support MSMEs and start-ups in Ghana, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with an initial amount of GHS90 million.
Businesses providing services that will be in high demand during the pandemic will be a part of the benefactors of the program. Similarly, businesses that have the potential to grow and positively impact communities affected by COVID-19 as well as businesses that will focus on digitization to support MSMEs, stand to benefit.
Essentially, the programme will proffer to also provide financial assistance, in the form of grants and soft loans, through participating institutions including banks, microfinance, mobile lenders, non-governmental organizations and Business Development Services, to eligible, qualified micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, both in the formal and informal sectors.
It indicated that the amount and type of financial support provided to a beneficiary would vary depending on the size of enterprise, their need and repayment capacity.
