World Bank Supports Ghana’s Entrepreneurship and SME Growth With $200 Million Facility

The World Bank has approved Ghana’s request for a $200 million facility to help in the transformation and diversification of the country’s economy.

The facility will be used for promoting private investment and firm growth in the non-resource base sectors of the economy. The project will also support entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) growth by strengthening the entrepreneurship support ecosystem, and it will include early-stage financing for growth-oriented entrepreneurs.

According to a press release the World Bank issued on Tuesday, the support for the non-resource base sectors will be done through an integrated program to build the country’s competitiveness and deliver sustainable jobs under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP).

“The $200 million funded project from the International Development Association (IDA) was approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors today [July 2, 2019],” the World Bank said in the release.

The GETP will support improvements in the business environment and build capacity for investment attraction and retention as well as spatial development such as Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to address constraints to access industrial land.

New World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Pierre Laporte said, “Ghana needs to invest more, diversify, and increase productivity if it is to achieve the Government’s current strategy of transforming the economy through higher, inclusive and sustainable growth with the private sector as the main driver”

“This operation directly aligns with the Government’s strategy and with the World Bank’s Africa regional strategy, which lays out economic transformation as a mechanism to create sustainable and inclusive growth.” He added.

The GETP will support the Government’s strategy of transforming the Ghanaian economy to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth, with the private sector as the main driver to build the most business-friendly economy in Africa and foster the competitiveness of Ghanaian firms.

“This project applies the World Bank Group Maximizing Finance for Development approach, maximizing the Government of Ghana’s resources and will help ensure that IDA funding leverages and attracts complementary private financing,” Douglas Pearce, Practice Manager Finance Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice said.

The interventions under the project are complementary to initiatives of other development partners focusing on the investment climate, skills development, industrial parks, access to finance, agricultural value chains and climate innovation. The interventions under this project will contribute to the World Bank Group’s twin goals by supporting opportunities for business growth and job creation in non-resource-based sectors.

“This is an ambitious private sector project and requires a high level of coordination and ownership to ensure a successful implementation,” explained Errol Graham, Program Leader EFI.