The World Bank, as one of its strategies to create employment opportunities for Ghanaians, has injected GH¢28 million grants into the operations of some selected Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country to support their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Bank continues to drive the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, with Small and Medium Enterprises totalling 400 being the latest SMEs to benefit from the World Bank disbursement. The money was disbursed to businesses in the agro-processing, food and beverage, health care and manufacturing industries.
Mr Pierre Laporte, the Country Director of the World Bank, made this known in a statement read on his behalf by the bank’s Lead Country Economist. He disclosed that the World Bank has plans of rolling out more projects to help the SMEs overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic.
“For instance, we have been working closely with the Ghana Enterprises Agency as part of the Ghana Economic Transformation Project. Additional World Bank financing will also be available for technical assistance and grants to SMEs with high growth potential to improve their productivity and support job creation.”
Mr Pierre Laporte
COVID-19 Impacted Tourism
Mr Laporte indicated that the World Bank, through the Ghana Enterprise Agency and under the Tourism Development Project, has made grant funding available to SMEs in tourism, a sector that has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and related travel restrictions.
The World Bank country Director noted that beyond direct support to firms, the Ghana Economic Transformation Project is also helping to lay the foundation for increased private investment in Ghana through improving the business environment, facilitating access to industrial land and bridging the gap in access to finance for firms.
Mr. Laporte observed that the Ghana Development Finance Project has been supporting the establishment and operationalization of the Development Bank Ghana, which would provide wholesale long-term funding for financial institutions to lend to credit-worthy enterprises in agribusiness, manufacturing and high-value services.
“We are doing a lot to support firms at the ground level, so to speak. I want to highlight the importance of macroeconomic stability for growth and investment. I think this is now the challenge of the day and the key to Ghana’s ability to emerge stronger from the crisis and in the years to come”.
Mr Pierre Laporte
COVID-19 Poses Significant Challenges
The Country Director averred that the shock from the COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges to the Ghanaian economy and as a result, impacted countless businesses. He noted that while the challenges came with both threats and opportunities, some sectors, such as: health and information, have shown resilience by turning the threats into opportunities for transformation.
Mr Laporte noted that recovery efforts for businesses must include the leveraging of opportunities created by the pandemic for transformation, recovery and growth. These, he stated, will include: identifying innovative ways around risk assessment and decision-making, teamwork, business capacity and organisational resilience.
It can be recalled that the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) disbursed some grants between November last year, 2021 and January this year, 2022, as part of the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP).
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