MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Board for Small Scale Industries, Mastercard Foundation Announce $15m Emergency Fund for MSMEs in Ghana Affected by COVID-19

The Canada-based Mastercard Foundation and Ghana’s National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), a unit of that country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, recently agreed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with a “Recovery and Resilience Program for MSMEs.” The program will provide micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with “grants and soft loans, via participating institutions – banks, microfinance, mobile lenders, NGOs” using an online application system.

In particular, the initiative is focused on helping: (1) MSMEs likely to reduce their employment of women and young people; (2) MSMEs facing increased demand due to COVID-19; and (3) businesses assisting MSMEs with digital solutions. The program has a budget of approximately GHC 90 million (USD 15.5 million).

Nathalie Akon Gabala, the Mastercard Foundation’s Regional Head for Western, Central and Northern Africa, argues, “If MSMEs are going to weather the storm, and even thrive during these uncertain times, then proactive measures such as working capital, grants and advisory services are essential to ensure they survive COVID-19’s ripple effect on business, productivity, revenues and employment.”

Established in 2006 by MasterCard, a US-based financial services corporation, the Mastercard Foundation aims to support young Africans in moving out of poverty via improved “access to education, financial services, and skills training.” The organization works in 29 African countries and is in the process of tightening its focus on 10 of these. As of 2018, the organization reported one-year expenditures of USD 298 million and total assets of USD 17.4 billion.

NBSSI was founded in 1981 through an Act of Parliament and has been operational since 1985. The organization seeks to develop and strengthen MSMEs, with a focus on women-led MSMEs. It runs 37 Business Resource Centres and 178 Business Advisory Centres across the country.

By Madigan Ruch, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Mastercard Foundation press release
https://mastercardfdn.org/nbssi-mastercard-foundation-recovery-and-resilience-program-for-msmes/

Mastercard Foundation description
https://mastercardfdn.org/our-work/where-we-work-in-africa/

NBSSI homepage
https://nbssi.gov.gh/

Prior MicroCapital news item on the Mastercard Foundation
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-mastercard-foundation-commits-300m-to-bring-young-africa-works-to-ethiopia/

More news on COVID-19
https://www.microcapital.org/?s=covid

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