Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, the Minister for Trade and Industry, has sworn in a seven member Grant Committee to oversee the approvals or rejections of grant requests from Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) applying for various Grant Programmes under the World Bank funded Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP).

The GETP, implemented by GEA, is an initiative to promote private investments and support growth in non-resource-based sectors. That is, deployment of technical assistance and grants (for the most qualified businesses) outside the extractive oil and gas sectors.

That is deployment of Technical Assistance and Grants for the most qualified businesses outside the extractive oil and gas sectors.

The Ghana Enterprises Agency (an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry) is one of the Technical Implementing Agencies (TIAS) of the GETP and is responsible for the implementation of the Project’s flagship programme (the SME High Growth Programme), and other Technical Assistance and Grant Programmes of the Ghana Economic Transformation Project.

The Grant Committeeee will have oversight over four Technical Assistance (TA) and Grant Programmes.

SME High Growth Programme

The first of the four TA and Grant Programmes is called the SME High Growth Programme, which is the flagship Programme under the GETP targeting High Growth Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to support productivity and competitiveness enhancing initiatives by such firms to accelerate their growth.

The second Programme Is dubbed Youth in MSME Programme – targeting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) owned by young people between the ages of 18 – 35 years.

Third is the ‘Women MSME Programme’. This programme is exclusively for female-owned enterprises ranging from micro- to medium-sized firms.

The final TA and Grant Programme is called PWD Enterprise Support Programme and is set up for only Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as well as startups owned by Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) or firms having most of their employees being PWDs.

The mandate of the Committee is to grant final approval for grant recommendations submitted for their reviews and to proffer reasons for rejecting any grant requests.

The inauguration and swearing-in of the Committee was necessitated by the dictates of the Project Implementation Manual which requires the set-up of the Committeee.

The Minister tasked the Grant Committee to undertake their duties dispassionately, fairly and with an open mind.

The Chairperson of the Committee expressed the appreciation of the members for the opportunity given them by the Minister and promised to work diligently to achieve the desired Project Development Objective of the Ghana Economic Transformation Project.

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, meanwhile, will contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). MSMEs helps to reduce levels of poverty through job creation and economic growth, they are key drivers of employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship for women, youth and groups in vulnerable situations.

MSMEs are the majority of the world’s food producers and play critical roles in closing the gender gap as they ensure women’s full and effective participation in the economy and in society.

As such, the formation of the committees are timely and will greatly enhance women participation in business in the country.