Tarragon Edge Limited, a prominent SME business advisory and implementation services firm in Ghana, has launched The Edge Credit Union to bolster Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
This initiative aims to address the significant challenge MSMEs face in accessing financial resources, particularly in the Accra metropolis and beyond.
At the launch event, Dr. Genevieve Pearl Duncan-Obuobi, Lead Consultant of Tarragon Edge, shared her vision, which began five years ago, to establish a credit union dedicated to supporting businesses and individuals.
“It has taken some time to get here, and I did not get here alone,” Dr. Duncan-Obuobi remarked, acknowledging the collaborative efforts that brought this dream to fruition.
The Edge Credit Union Is set to play a pivotal role in the economic development of Ghana by providing much-needed financial support to MSMEs. This support is particularly crucial for women entrepreneurs, who will benefit significantly from the community bank’s services, enabling them to contribute more effectively to the nation’s socio-economic progress.
Dr. Duncan-Obuobi, with her extensive background in banking, highlighted a key issue that hinders support for SMEs: the perceived risk due to the lack of well-structured systems within these small enterprises.
By addressing this gap, The Edge Credit Union aims to create a more inclusive financial environment, empowering small businesses to thrive and drive economic growth.
Enhancing the Financial Landscape for MSMEs in Ghana
The launch of The Edge Credit Union marks a significant step towards enhancing the financial landscape for MSMEs in Ghana, promising a brighter future for small business owners and the broader community.
After a career at one of the leading banks in the country, Dr Duncan-Obuobi conducted a study on SMEs, to better understand the risks, challenges, and opportunities in the sector.
“If we all continue talking about the risks and nobody is willing to take that initiative, it will be difficult. We cannot expect the big banks to do it all by themselves. There’s a need for collaboration. So where you find expertise, you must leverage and support it.
“We are going to offer training and mentoring, to help entrepreneurs to build the right business structures. We aim to create an ecosystem and the first pillar of that system is the credit union. Once we have built capacity among our credit union members, we can now leverage on the financial resources that we have to help the businesses to grow”.
Dr Duncan-Obuobi
The Edge Credit Union difference lies in the consortium of consultants with different varied backgrounds and expertise, including lawyers, risk managers, trainers, financiers, and investors that customers will have access to, to address their needs.
According to Dr Duncan-Obuobi, it’s not only the pool of financial resources, but the combination of those resources with the pool of key experts that will make a difference for customers.
“With very competitive interest rates, we know that customers will be able to pay back the loans we offer. We have the requisite systems and processes that will ensure that loans are paid back promptly.”
Dr Duncan-Obuobi
Account Products
The Edge Credit Union’s focus is to support its customers and grow with their businesses. This is reflected in the various account products.
Lifestyle Account: For those people who wish to become investors, as well as save towards the realisation of lifestyle goals.. They might want to save to buy a new car, or perhaps to go on holiday. They can save towards these lifestyle goals by signing on to The Edge Credit Union’s Lifestyle Account.
Kids Account: The Edge Credit Union wants to start cultivating the mindset of saving in kids, as young as six months.
Edu-Save Account: Learning never ends. The Edge Credit Union believes that wherever you find yourself, whoever you are, you are still learning. The focus is to support you not just through your master’s or your doctorate, but also to support you to do things you want to do, perhaps a short course in cybersecurity, or Artificial Intelligence, among others.
“With an Edu-Save Account, The Edge Credit Union can support its members and customers to study these courses and programmes”, the CEO said. SME and Personal Loans Account: This is meant to finance SMEs and the personal needs of individuals who have accounts with the credit union.
Dr Duncan-Obuobi said that The Edge Credit Union will work assiduously to become one of the largest community banks not only in Ghana but also on the African continent.
The Managing Director of Tarragon Edge Limited, Derek Hammond noted that in Ghana, many entrepreneurial dreams go unfulfilled because of the lack of support systems to grow those dreams. “That is why Tarragon was set up – to nurture and grow dreams”, he explained. “We want to be the catalyst; we want to be the engine to grow businesses across the country and Africa”, he indicated.
“We identified that financial resources was a key but lacking ingredient. You may have vision, may have the right people, and perhaps even a workable strategy, but money may be lacking, and that’s where The Edge Credit Union is stepping in.”
Derek Hammond
Derek Hammond therefore encouraged everyone to join the team at The Edge Credit Union to help develop a vibrant SME sector, to accelerate Ghana’s growth
READ ALSO: WikiLeaks To Boost Democracy Amid Transparency Issues
