President Akufo-Addo launches National SME Growth and Opportunity Programme

The president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has launched Ghana’s National SME Growth and Opportunity Programme to provide support for small and medium-scale enterprises.

As part of the program, Exim Bank Ghana would be provided with 700 million Cedis to offer small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) highly subsidised financial support for both capital and operating expenditures and offer capacity building to beneficiaries of the programme.

Another programme under the 1D1F is also being set up to ensure optimal synergies within this structural project.

The president also disclosed that the Ghana Enterprise Agency would be provided with 230 million Ghana Cedis.

The purpose of this fund is to provide small-scale grants and loans of up to two years at highly subsidised rates to high-growth SMEs with employees over 100 persons.

The President made this announcements during the SME Growth and Opportunity Programme launch in Accra.

The programme aims to achieve results, drawing lessons from past programmes and challenges faced by SMEs.

The programme prioritises coordination between participating companies  and providing both financial and technical support across the whole spectrum of Ghana’s SME, from early-stage micro enterprise to well-established small and medium-sized companies oriented towards exports.

The SME Growth programme is also designed to continue operating in the medium-term.

In this context, three dedicated funds are being created within GEA, Exim, and DGB to manage the execution of the project and its subsequent activities.

A total of 8.2 billion Ghana cedis has currently been mobilised for the Programme and will be channeled towards delivering technical and financial support across the three participating state institutions.

The Food Processing Pilot Plant will be situated on the University of Ghana campus, featuring installed processing equipment, warehousing space, a testing lab, and a suite for SMEs to directly interact with relevant regulatory authorities.

This initiative will make food processing more accessible by allowing SMEs, who may lack sufficient capital and technical capacity, to pay a one-time fee to use the modern and advanced processing equipment at the pilot plant.

This will enable them to produce at scale, with support from food scientists and other specialists.

President Akufo-Addo expressed optimism that this initiative will help build a stronger economy by supporting robust Ghanaian enterprises, creating jobs, and providing opportunities for citizens.

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“The Akufo-Addo Government is being intentional about supporting SMEs that are too large for small business finance yet too small to attract substantial commercial lending. This initiative aims to create ‘SME champions’ capable of taking Ghanaian products and innovations global,” the President said.

The programme reflects the government’s broader strategy to foster a competitive, innovative, and globally oriented SME sector, which is crucial for Ghana’s long-term economic prosperity. The SME GO Programme is a continuation of the government’s commitment to economic transformation, following previous policies under the post-COVID Plan for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).

The Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, said SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure their success. Supporting SMEs, according to the Minster, is crucial to achieving growth and development ambitions.

“We heard from the IFC announce the commitment of 400 million US dollars to this programme, and we also heard from the African Development Bank another support of 45 million United States dollars. This is testament ladies and gentlemen, to the confidence in the Ghanaian economy. So we’ve gathered here today as champions of a shared vision to create an enabling environment for our micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to thrive.”

The Minister noted that SMEs are the lifeblood of Ghana’s economy, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure their success. “The data is clear, ladies and gentlemen. Supporting SMEs is crucial to achieving our growth and development ambitions,” he added.

“We must be intentional about providing access to financial resources, expertise, and capacity-building programmes that empower them to drive innovation, create jobs, and stimulate economic growth. Ghana’s growth model must evolve beyond relying heavily on foreign direct investment and raw material exports, which can be very volatile and could expose us to external shocks. Instead, we must harness the potential of our own homegrown SMEs to build a prosperous, dynamic, and competitive economy,” Dr Amin Adam continued.

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