40 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) drawn from various fields in the Northern Region have undergone capacity training on entrepreneurial skills to empower and equip them to enhance their activities.
The training was organised by Absa Bank Ghana in collaboration with Farrelly & Mitchell Ghana – a global food and agribusiness management consulting firm, with funding from the Mastercard Foundation. The collaboration, under Absa’s ‘Young Africa Works Project’, was to transform the operations of these institutions and provide a job-creation platform for the youth in Ghana.
The Young Africa Works Project, a collaboration between Absa Bank and the Mastercard Foundation, is a project that is ongoing until 2025 to intellectually empower and equip about 5,000 SMEs with relevant business knowledge and financially support 5,000 SMEs to scale their businesses within a period of 5 years while creating 50,000 employment opportunities for women and the youth. The project is focused on three main types of SMEs: those that are women-led, agribusinesses and fintechs.
Audrey Abakah, Head of SME Banking at Absa Bank Ghana, said the bank is committed to playing a shaping role in society and promoting inter-generational sustainability for SME business growth in Ghana.
“Our partnership with Mastercard and Farrelly & Mitchell is to create an enabling platform for SMEs to enjoy a diversity of opportunities to become profitable in a sustainable way. Ultimately, we want to foster the employment of 50,000 youth and women in Ghana,” she said.
According to her, SMEs play a critical role in Ghana’s development – hence the support to aid their overall progress.
The Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa at Farrelly & Mitchell, Stephen Awuah, emphasised that the training’s essence was to expose SME owners to hands-on entrepreneurial skills and tools for their business-growth and expansion.
The skills and tools will enable them to manage their finances, use technology to market their products, develop efficient supply chains and hire best talents to move their businesses to the next level, he added.
Some beneficiaries expressed gratitude to Absa Bank and the Mastercard Foundation for their initiative to strengthen the capacity of small businesses, insisting that it will go a long way to enhance business profitability and attract the youth to venture into the sector in order to curb the country’s high unemployment rate.
