The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) has indicated that it will from next week Monday, December 6, 2021, begin the disbursement of about eight million Ghana cedis (GHC8 million) grant to approximately 120 small and medium enterprises (SMES) to support the growth of their businesses.
Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency, speaking at an orientation and contract signing ceremony for the beneficiaries in Accra, noted that the grant is to cover operational costs such as: purchase of raw materials and equipment and payment of salaries.
The new 120 beneficiaries are part of the second batch of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Response Grant under the World Bank-funded Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP), which was rolled out earlier this year.
Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh revealed that the new beneficiaries were selected from more than 21,000 applicants, who were subjected to various assessment, analysis, and due diligence checks of their businesses by the grant and other technical committees.
According to Mrs Yankey-Ayeh, the next batch of beneficiaries will cover up to 212 businesses, who would receive GH¢ 23million under the GETP. The GETP is designed to provide technical and financial support to businesses to transform their business and the economy.
Mrs Yankey-Ayeh addressing the participants at the programme, averred that monitoring and evaluating teams from GEA and World Bank would check on the use of the funds to ensure that beneficiaries use the allocations judiciously.
“Use the funds to transform your business and create jobs. We will come round to see what you’re doing with the fund, but if it is not utilised, then we’ll come for the money and give it to other people who can use it well.”
Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh
GEA to Support more Businesses
Starting from next year, Mrs Yankey-Ayeh disclosed that technical assistance component of the programme would be rolled out to facilitate the growth of the beneficiaries’ businesses.
The Chief Executive Officer noted that GEA and its partners would institute other funding opportunities to further accelerate the advancement of businesses.
Mrs Yankey-Ayeh lamented the impact that the pandemic has on businesses. Nonetheless, she appreciated the role of government in supporting Small and Medium Enterprises.
“The last two years have been challenging for the SMEs due the COVID-19 pandemic, but the government has supported them through different initiatives including: the Ghc600 million Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS) and the Ghc15 million Ghana Enterprise Agency Mastercard Foundation Resilience Programme.”
Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh
The Director of the One-District- One-Factory Secretariat, Kofi Addo, also observed that international trade has been distorted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he stated that this is the time to support the private sector businesses to grow.
Mr Kofi Addo commended the private sector for leading the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the country since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. He thus, urged the beneficiaries to utilise the funds to develop their business. He also admonished them to eschew from using the funds for their personal needs as it’s purposely to help them grow their businesses.
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