The Bank of Africa (BOA)-Ghana, in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, has launched a groundbreaking initiative aimed at training approximately 1,000 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) across Ghana, with a particular emphasis on women-led businesses.
This partnership between BOA, a leading SME banking service provider in Ghana, and the IFC, the world’s largest development institution focused on investment, advisory, and asset management to foster private sector growth in emerging markets, marks the first such initiative in Ghana aimed at empowering targeted groups economically.
The inaugural BOA/IFC SME Seminar, hosted in Accra, brought together around 50 participants from various SMEs for an interactive and engaging two-day workshop.
This year-long program is available to both existing and new customers of the bank, with a special focus on the women’s wing of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) across all 16 regions.
Abderrahmane Belbachir, Managing Director of BOA-Ghana, highlighted at the seminar that this training initiative is a key component of the bank’s broader strategy to support SMEs in Ghana.
“We recognise that access to capital is crucial, but true empowerment goes beyond financial resources. That is why we have designed this programme to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge to propel your businesses forward.
“This training is a great avenue to open doors to more opportunities with the Bank of Africa. We are prepared to support your growth with access to more loans, facilitation of your transfer requests, and other tailored financial solutions,” he said.
Touching on the partnership with IFC, the MD reiterated that it exemplifies the power of shared vision and collective action in driving economic development. “To our partners, your continued trust and collaboration with the Bank of Africa Ghana have made this initiative possible,” he added.
SME Coordinator, BOA-Ghana, Jacob Wilberforce highlighted that recognizing the pivotal role of SMEs in fueling economic growth here in Ghana, the bank has a dedicated segment that focuses on supporting these businesses and offering them very soft loans with interest lower than the Bank of Ghana’s reference rate.
“Beyond financial assistance, we provide advisory services, business networking opportunities, and workshops to empower SMEs to thrive and expand their operations. This partnership further strengthens our commitment effort to impact more businesses,” he said.
Mr. Wilberforce added that tailored financial services have been developed to meet the unique needs of these dynamic entities that will benefit from the partnership. “Through our SME Support Facility (SSF), we offer collateral-free loans from a minimum of GH¢20,000 to as high as the client capacity can handle,” he stressed.
IFC-LPI Certified Assessor and Performance & Learning Specialist, Margaret Jackson, who was the main facilitator of the training highlighted that participants will be well equipped to describe how a business generates profits, measure business profitability, and develop strategies to enhance profitability after completing the course.
“This two-day programme has been designed to equip entrepreneurs with hands-on experience in proper financial and business operational practices. Topics are carefully selected to deliver in-depth knowledge of business profitability improvement and cash flow management as well as effective working capital strategies.
“The beneficial entrepreneurs would be able to make better financial and corporate decisions and adhere to standard bookkeeping practices to facilitate access to finance. These are the tools that will help entrepreneurs make informed decisions, navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship, and unlock their full potential,” she said.
The initiative received positive feedback from participants, who praised the interactive and motivating approach, peer-to-peer learning, and networking opportunities.
Participants shared their experiences about how they gained valuable insights into calculating profit margins and maintaining business profitability.
A participant, Abugri Emmanuel, MBA Prime Limited, producer of detergents, shared his excitement for benefitting from the free programme that has taught him proper financial accounts management to access competitive funding.
The seminar covered key learning areas, including credit management, improving profitability, effective working capital strategies, controlling business cash flow, savings strategy, and record-keeping for informed decision-making.