Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, has revealed that about 700 million Ghana Cedis have been spent on funding support for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) following the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based JoyNews Channel, Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh stressed that such an investment is unprecedented in the history of the Agency.
“There is a process, and we put a lot of thought into what we do. There is a science to the programme so it is not as easy as people think it is.
“About GH₵700 million has been disbursed so far, and in the history of this [Agency], no such amount has been spent on SMEs,” said Kosi Yankey-Ayeh.
Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh further disclosed that under the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Programme (CAP BuSS), about 300,000 medium-sized enterprises received both financial and technical assistance from the GEA.
“The CAP BuSS support with over 300,000 businesses with men, women, formal and informal businesses across the length and breadth of this nation received financial support and about 15,000 of them at that time also received technical assistance.
“This was to try and figure out how best we can help them manage the affairs of their businesses and to strengthen them going forward,” she added.
The Agency in anticipation of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, went into partnership with the MasterCard Foundation to offer support to businesses in the country under the “Nkorsor” programme to ensure how businesses progress.
According to the Chief Executive, the programme supported about 20,000 businesses across the country.
“…and so looking at Nkorsor, we came in to support about 20,000+ businesses with access to funding across the length and breadth of this nation, making sure that we were supporting those who could not benefit from the first phase of the funding as well,” Kosi Yankey-Ayeh stated.
The Ghana Enterprises Agency (formerly known as the National Board for Small-Scale Industries) is the apex governmental body dedicated to the promotion and development of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana.
GEA is mandated to coordinate, implement, and monitor the activities of the MSMEs Sector in Ghana.