Five Ghanaian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have received GH₵1 million each in financial support through the pilot phase of the SME Growth and Opportunity (GO) programme.

At the launch of the 8.2 billion intervention programme for SMEs, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presented a symbolic cheque to the beneficiaries.

The recipients include Tevonwa Limited, specializing in rice processing; Tilaa Limited, a honey producer; Abubakar Mahama Limited, focused on sheanut processing; Payne Payne and Hopkins, engaged in fish processing and packaging; and AA Food and Beverages Limited, a liquor producer.

Developed by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the programme aims to provide targeted financial solutions and technical assistance to help SMEs expand operations and create employment opportunities.

During the SME GO summit themed "Breaking Barriers to SME Growth," Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, the Minister of Finance, emphasized the critical role of SME support in advancing the country's growth and development agenda.

He highlighted that nurturing homegrown SMEs is integral to building a resilient and competitive economy.

“We must be intentional about providing access to financial resources, expertise, and capacity building programmes that empower them to drive innovation, create jobs, and stimulate economic growth,” he said.

Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, the Minister of Trade and Industry, commended the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) for providing targeted support to specific demographics through interventions such as the “Business in a Box” project which seeks to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with the requisite tools for their enterprises, YouStart Jobs and Skills, and Cocoa Life Youth.

He said the GEA also facilitated the establishment of over 56,000 new businesses and more than 100,000 new jobs within the SME space from 2017 to 2023.

“From the modest number of 170 when your government assumed the reins of power, the GEA has expanded its Business Advisory Centres (BACs) and Business Resource Centres (BRCs) to 224 which are all placed at the service of the SME sector,” he said.

Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the Central Bank of Ghana, said the Bank was working to keep inflation in check to allow SMEs to have access to loans with lower interest rates.

“When inflation declines to comfortable levels and interest rates begin to decline, demand and supply for SME loans will pick up and be a key driving force supporting growth,” he said.

He also disclosed that the Bank had commissioned a study in collaboration with the Development Bank of Ghana and the University of Ghana Business School to better understand the constraints of SMEs to formulate targeted policies to ensure growth.

“The objective of the study is among others, to ascertain the economy’s SME credit demand needs, the supply of liquidity by these SME and how fintech can be leveraged to scale up lending by the SMEs,” he said.

The implementing agencies for the SME GO programme are the GEA, Ghana Exim Bank and the Development Bank Ghana/International Finance Corporation.