APP tenders value hit over US$37m in first year

The tender value of the African Partner Pool (APP), an online business platform that connects international companies (including banks) to quality, credible and validated local SMEs, has hit more than US$37m in just a year of the platform’s existence.

Sam Brandful, Ghana Manager of Invest in Africa (IIA), creator and manager of the platform, noted that the tender value is one of the many achievements chalked up over the one-year period.

Apart from the value of the tender, other achievements during the first year include close to 1,000 supplier companies across 20 sectors, 13 buyer corporates, and launch of the Business Linkage Programme with training of the first set of 16 companies completed.

“These achievements have only been made possible through the support of suppliers and buyers. In many respects, however, the results of our first year tell us that there is a lot more we can achieve,” he said.

IIA, an organisation focused on tackling shared private sector challenges, created the AAP portal to simplify the local sourcing process by connecting independently validated Ghanaian SMEs with international and domestic companies.

The APP allows local companies to promote their goods and services to a wider market. It also helps larger international and Ghanaian companies to find credible Ghanaian suppliers and meet their local content needs quicker and more cost-effectively through its research functionality.

Local businesses registered on the APP have a profile page to promote their business on, while international and domestic companies are able to use a search tool to help them find supplies with the qualification, experience and standards they need.

“The APP is the core of IIA’s work in Ghana. This directory will assist local suppliers promote their businesses and increase their ability to tender more competitively. It also helps them access training and support from IIA’s partners and the AfDB to build capacity and grow their businesses,” Mr. Brandful noted.

Trade and Industry Minister Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, in a speech delivered on his behalf, congratulated the APP on its first anniversary.

“This programme is providing SMEs access to global markets and the IIA and APP must be lauded. Given all our difficulties and challenges, the ability to access markets is very important. At the end of the day, internationalisation of businesses become key.

“We hope to witness bigger achievements in the future. We hope the APP is helping realise the local content dream. Now that local content has become a legislation, we are happy there is a vibrant and effective private sector-led move to promote local businesses to move forward into international markets through linkages and support from institutions to the AfDB,” he added.

Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) President James Asare-Adjei also congratulated the APP on its first year anniversary, and pledged the Association’s support to future endeavours of the IIA.

“This is a project AGI cherishes so much, because 60-70 percent of our members are SMEs and our biggest challenge has been markets and how to ensure we have the available market; and also to ensure we promote Made-in-Ghana products and find the needed buyers for our products.

“This is a good thing, and having seen how far you have come in only a year it is very impressive and you need to be lauded. I believe we can do a lot more and with AGI’s representations in the various regions we will fully give our support to this initiative. We will integrate some of IIA’s promotional programmes in our activities and ensure that we bring this initiative to the notice of some regional SMEs,” he added.

In line with the APP’s objective of providing training for the SME sector, the IIA is currently rolling-out a business training initiative called ‘The Business Linkage Programme’ (BLP) with financial support from the AfDB’s Fund for Africa Private Sector Assistance (FAPA).

Over the next three years, the BLP will provide 120 ambitious SMEs with world-class training and mentoring from global experts across sectors. The BLP has been uniquely designed to support Ghanaian SMEs embed efficient management structures and technical systems to improve their competitiveness, attract finance and win new businesses.

The 13 major buyers include UT Bank, Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC), AGI, Tullow Oil, Ecobank, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited; EY, AB & David Law; Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Clyde & Co, General Electric (GE); Newmont, and Lonrho, operating in Ghana as Atuabo Freeport.