The Government of Ghana (GoG) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary organization of the World Bank Group in emerging markets, will hold a retreat on ways to align IFC’s medium term strategy to the priority areas outlined in the Ghana CARES programme.

The retreat will be held for two days from the 9^th to 10^th June, 2021, according to the press release statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.

The workshop will among others, discuss government’s strategic plan for private sector development while also providing long-term growth capital to support Ghanaian Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Entreprises (MSME) under a synergized CARES and IFC Ghana Strategy.

The strategic meeting will have IFC’s Vice President for Middle East and Africa, Sérgio Pimenta lead the IFC team, with the Minister for Finance, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta leading the Government’s team.

Other participants of the workshop include the Ministers for Trade and Industry, Food & Agriculture, Communication & Digitization and Works & Housing.

Also, Private Sector representatives and other Government agencies such as the Bank of Ghana, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), and Ghana Export-Import Bank (EXIM), are also scheduled to participate.

Accordingly, some of the critical areas for the sessions include Agriculture and Agri-business, affordable housing infrastructure financing and development, Entrepreneurship, manufacturing, and digitization.

The Government’s partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) aligns with its mandate of focusing exclusively on the private sector in developing economies.

Apart from the abovementioned, the IFC also applies financial resources, technical expertise, global experience, and innovative thinking to help partners overcome financial, operational, and other challenges.

The Ghana CARES Programme

The Ghana Covid-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Entreprises Support (CARES), also known as the ‘Obataanpa’ Programme is broadly aimed at supporting citizens and entreprises with GHS100 billion budget to transform the Ghanaian economy and to cushion it towards the realization of the “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda.

Upon the launch of the Ghana CARES programme in November 2020, it was instituted to aid the Government’s response to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and return the economy to a path of robust and sustainable growth over the next three years.

Already, there are issues of very low industrialisation and quality of manufactured goods that often fail to meet international standards. While recognizing the implementation of the AfCFTA, the Ghana CARES Programme will provide the enabling environment and the necessary support to all actors, especially the private sector to excel and support the creation of jobs and wealth for all Ghanaians.

Outlined under the CARES programme is the recently announced National Development Bank, which is expected to take off in July, 2021, to provide long-term wholesale financing to businesses at relatively low rates.