The Ghana Enterprises Agency continues to extend its unflinching support to the growth of the Ghanaian Micro, Small, Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, providing over GH¢28million to 89 SMEs under the COVID-19 Response Grant Programme.

They are the third batch of beneficiaries under the programme, which is a component of the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP).

Speaking at the grant agreement-signing ceremony in Accra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GEA, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, said the liquidity support being extended to the SMEs is expected to promote private investments and high growth firms in non-resource-based sectors – such as agriculture/agro-processing, hospitality, manufacturing and textiles & garments.

“This new phase is targetted at firms which export or have the potential to export; female-owned enterprises; businesses owned by persons with disability; and those owned by young people between the ages of 18 and 40,” she said. “And the applicants who have made it to this point today are those who have demonstrated their preparedness and desire to grow their businesses to make impact and create more jobs,” she added.

Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh pleaded with beneficiaries to use the grant responsibly, saying: “Utilise this investment by the government of Ghana for its intended purpose of growing and developing your businesses. That way, you will be in a position to pay it back by employing more people and paying your taxes. It is also the only way to convince us and our partners to give you more in the future”.

On her part, Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry in charge of MSMEs, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, said the grant will ease the pressure SMEs go through in accessing credit amid the current global economic challenges.

According to her, government has fulfilled its side of the bargain by ensuring the Ghanaian sector stayed afloat through various interventions including the COVID-19 Response Grant Programme – adding that the ball is now in the beneficiaries’ court to judiciously utilise the support being extended to them for scaling-up and creating jobs.

“We are hoping that they (beneficiaries) will also meet government half-way by ensuring everything they said they were going to do with the funds they do; and hopefully next year by this time we will have a lot more success stories…that their businesses are growing and increasing the number of employees in the process,” she said.

Meanwhile, rolling out the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAP BuSS) has seen more than 300,000 businesses receiving support; the Mastercard Foundation-funded COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme (Nkosuo Programme) and a host of other programmes since March 2020 are meant to ensure businesses stay afloat despite economic challenges the coronavirus pandemic has caused and continues to cause for nations around the world.