Ecobank, African Union Partner to develop MSMEs

The AUDA-NEPAD (the African Union Development Agency) and Ecobank Group have announced that they are committing resources to Africa’s micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs).

The second virtual workshop facilitated by McKinsey recently, provided an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of sustaining market access and strengthening capabilities for MSMEs.

During this session, high level representatives from the African Union Commission, regional development banks, development financial institutions, international organisations and commercial banks from the continent, agreed to put in place the AUDA-NEPAD “100,000 MSMEs by 2021” programme.

The AUDA-NEPAD MSME programme has will have five pillars: AUDA MSME Academy; MSME Financing Support Programme; MSME Marketplace; MSME Micro-health insurance Scheme, and MSME digital platform.

The five pillars were designed to ensure that MSMEs across the continent are supported to become more resilient, improve their market access and take advantage of technology to tap into the African market of 1.3 billion consumers and leverage the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement.

AUDA-NEPAD Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, commended the contribution of all financial institutions, development partners and other stakeholders who participated in designing the, “100,000 MSMEs by 2021,” programme.

Ecobank Group CEO, Ade Ayeyemi, reiterated the bank’s commitment to the initiative and specifically confirmed its support in building the digital platform, developing content for the MSME Academy and participating in lending to African MSMEs.