The government's YouStart entrepreneurial program will be supported thanks to a contract signed by Access Bank Ghana and the Ministry of Finance.

This is in keeping with the Bank's objective to helping SMEs grow and be in a position to sustainably assist Ghana's economy.

The YouStart initiative is a means by which the government of Ghana plans to give money and technical assistance to young people between the ages of 18 and 40 and youth-led businesses.

The intervention's goal is to help people establish, expand, and run their own enterprises.

Through this programme, the government intends to commit about GHS10 billion over the next 3 years through the assistance of banks, towards the creation of at least a million jobs in the economy.

Explaining the bank’s decision to come on board the initiative, the Executive Director for Wholesale Banking at Access Bank Ghana, James Bruce who spoke on behalf of Access Bank Ghana’s Managing Director, Olumide Olatunji, intimated that Access Bank Ghana has been a strong pillar of support to SMEs over the years and will not relent in its efforts to see the sector continually thrive.

“Access Bank’s SMEs’ focus has over the past few years revolved around boosting the capacity of SMEs on digitalization, providing business advisory services, facilitating networking opportunities for them through workshops and clinics and ultimately providing funds for them”.

He noted that within the past two years, Access Bank Ghana has advanced about GHS 50 million to SMEs in Ghana to boost their capital. The bank has also championed several programmes geared towards building resilient SMEs such as SME Clinics and Capacity Building Workshops on digitalization across the country, the Business startup Challenge, and Womenpreneur Pitchaton platforms that nurture startups and entrepreneurs with creative ideas to get funding. “Our support to YouStart therefore further entrenches our belief in the sector and desire to push them to succeed”, he added.

As a go-to bank for SMEs, Access Bank Ghana remains committed to its promise of providing more than banking to customers. Over the years, the bank has developed a deep understanding of its customers, delivering excellent services and empowering them to achieve more through financial inclusion leading to several awards including the Most Innovative SME Banking Brand in 2022.