Ghana: Bank of Africa, IFC team up to support 1,000 SMEs across the country

The year-long program is available to both customers and non-customers of the bank, with a special focus on the women’s wing of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) across all 16 regions.

At the inaugural training seminar, Abderrahmane Belbachir, Managing Director of BOA-Ghana, highlighted that this training initiative marks the first step in the bank’s broader plan to support SMEs in Ghana.

Managing Director, BOA-Ghana, Abderrahmane Belbachir, speaking at the inaugural training seminar, emphasised that this training programme is just the beginning of the bank’s comprehensive strategy to support SMEs in Ghana.

“We recognize that access to capital is crucial, but true empowerment goes beyond financial resources. That is why we have designed this programme to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge to propel your businesses forward.

“This training is a great avenue to open doors to more opportunities with the Bank of Africa. We are prepared to support your growth with access to more loans, facilitation of your transfer requests, and other tailored financial solutions,” he said.

Touching on the partnership with IFC, the MD reiterated that it exemplifies the power of shared vision and collective action in driving economic development. “To our partners, your continued trust and collaboration with the Bank of Africa Ghana have made this initiative possible,” he added.

SME Coordinator, BOA-Ghana, Jacob Wilberforce highlighted that recognizing the pivotal role of SMEs in fueling economic growth here in Ghana, the bank has a dedicated segment that focuses on supporting these businesses and offering them very soft loans with interest lower than the Bank of Ghana’s reference rate.

“Beyond financial assistance, we provide advisory services, business networking opportunities, and workshops to empower SMEs to thrive and expand their operations. This partnership further strengthens our commitment effort to impact more businesses,” he said.

Mr. Wilberforce added that tailored financial services have been developed to meet the unique needs of these dynamic entities that will benefit from the partnership. “Through our SME Support Facility (SSF), we offer collateral-free loans from a minimum of GHS20,000 to as high as the client capacity can handle,” he stressed.