5,700 SMEs benefit from Absa Young Africa Works project

Absa Bank Ghana in collaboration with Mastercard Foundation has invested more than GH¢1.1 billion in the last four years to support 5,700 Small and Medi­um-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to boost their growth. The support is under the Absa Young Africa Works (AYAW) project, which has the objective to create 50,000 decent jobs for the youth. Under the programme, Absa Bank Ghana is providing entrepreneurial skills training and collateral-free business loans at 10 per cent interest rate, below the current market rate of 30 per cent. As part of the programme, officials of Absa Bank Ghana has visited some of the beneficiary SMEs under the AYAW to see how they are faring. The companies are Praise Ex­port Services Limited in Pokuase, a Ghanaian food-processing company incorporated in 1994, G Billy Farms Ltd, a commercial pineapple-producing company based in Nsawam and Eden Tree Limited located at Lashibi, which supplies fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. Under the programme, Praise Export Services through AYAW has received more than GH¢22 million, G Billy has received GH¢3.3 million and Eden Tree Limited has also received GH¢1 million to boost their operations. For Praise Export Services Limited, the support had helped the company to procure new ma­chinery and improve its produc­tion processes. That has helped the company to expand its production and posi­tioned it to export to the Euro­pean market as well as helped the company to provide job opportu­nities for the youth. For G Billy Farms Limited, the loan facility has helped the compa­ny to improve its revenue and help the company to expand its farms and employ more farm hands. Also, through the loan facility, Eden Tree Limited has been able to procure more fruits, vegetables and herbs for processing for the local market. Speaking to reporters after the tour, the Director of SME, Agency Banking and Partnership of Absa Bank Ghana and lead for the Absa Mastercard Foundation Programme, Audrey Abakah, said the AYAW was started in 2020 to support more than 5,700 SMEs across the country. She said the goal was to create more than 50,000 decent jobs and through the project more than 6,000 SMEs, including smallhold­er farmers, had been trained and 24,000 jobs had been created as a result of that. Ms Abakah said access to finance remained a challenge to businesses in the country, espe­cially SMEs, and players in the fi­nancial sector had to be innovative and come out with novel solution to address the financial challenge facing businesses. Ms Abakah said it was in line with the bank’s objectives that was why Absa Bank Ghana partnered with Mastercard Foundation to implement the AYAW to support SMEs. She said Absa Bank Ghana and Mastercard Foundation were excited about how the funding was impacting positively on the businesses and the fact the benefi­ciaries were using the loan for the intended purposes. Ms Catherine Krobo Edusei, the Managing Director of Eden Tree Limited, which is benefitting from the AYAW, in an interview, said the Absa loan had really helped her business to expand and employ more youth and farmers. Particularly, she said the low interest loan facility had given financial relief to her company. According to her, the loan facility had helped her outfit to procure more products for pro­cessing.

Currently, she said Eden Tree Limited could process two tonnes of vegetables per day.