Banks to advance loans to SMEs

Several Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana are expected to benefit from special loan facilities to be advanced by commercial banks in the country under the green financing projects for businesses.

Africa Guaranteed Fund (AGF), through a partnership with International Trade Centre (ITC) and Nordic Development Fund, is to make the loans available to commercial banks in the country for onward disbursement to SMEs in green sectors such waste recycling, waste management, among others.

This came to light at a press conference on Monday, November 20, 2017, in Accra, to announce the hosting of the third edition of the Green Finance Conference in Accra at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel.

The conference is in line with the National Climate Change Policy, which was launched in July 2014, to give policy direction to the government on climate change.

It is expected to bring together over 100 SMEs, 17 banks and about 200 financial experts from across the globe.

An official of AGF, Germain K. Dodor, said the loans would help SMEs to grow in order to provide employment and boost economic growth.

According to him, green finance is critical and that AGF and its partners are seeking to support more SMEs in the years to come under the project.

Already, about 7,000 SMEs have reportedly benefitted from the loan facility over the five years of AGF existence in Africa.

In Ghana, an amount $33 million has been invested in local SMEs.

The Director, Division of Enterprises and Institutions at ITC, Anders Aero, expressed the hope that with time more enterprises would be able to obtain more green loans.

Currently, the maximum loan being offered to SMEs under the green finance project is $1 million.