Gov’t disburses €3.3 million to SMEs

The government, with support from the Italian government, has disbursed about 3.3 million Euros to eight Small Medium Enterprises to ignite the private sector development.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Trade and Industries, said the disbursement was part of a 22-million Euro facility granted by the Italian government.


Mr Iddrisu was speaking at a press conference to announce the approval of the funds for the eight enterprises in Accra.


He said an earlier provision of 11 million Euros was disbursed between 2004 and 2008 for the establishment of the Ghana Private Sector Development Facility Project.


He said the government had a firm belief that the private sector held the key to the economic growth and development of the country.


“The government is also convinced that the potential of Small and Medium Enterprise to stimulate such growth is huge as they presently contribute to over eighty percent of the country’s GDP,” he added.


He said the project had two components which was a soft loan of 20 million Euros to be used to establish a credit facility for Ghanaian Entrepreneurs and a 2 million Euros earmarked for the management of the facility and its implementation.

Earlier in 2013, the government received 10 million Euros in November as the second tranche of the loan facility.


The Trade Minister appealed to beneficiaries of the facility to ensure they keep to the schedule of repayment and work with the team of experts managing the project.


He commended the Italian government for the support to revamp the Small and Medium Enterprises for economic development.


Ms Laura Carpini, the Italian Ambassador in Ghana, said the Italian government was proud to partner Ghana to promote private sector development through the utilisation of Italian technologies in equipment and machinery.


She said the approved projects were funded with the credit line granted by the government in favour of Ghana in the framework of the cooperation for development.


The Ambassador said Italy was also active in other sectors with a number of initiatives including “the pride of Ghana” implemented by an Italian NGO and “rural and agriculture finance” implemented by international organisations total worth $42, 36 million, of which $1.854.250 funded by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Italy.