No fewer than 100,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in eight selected countries in Africa will benefit from a $2m MSMEs financing initiative of the Ecobank Group, in partnership with the African Union development agency, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
Ecobank hinted on Monday that the financing component would be launched as from May 27, 2021.
The bank said, “A total sum of $2m will be extended in the form of working capital to beneficiaries, who meet the set criteria across the eight countries in this first phase.”
It listed Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda and Togo as the countries to benefit from the MSMEs financing.
According to Ecobank, the ‘100,000 MSMEs Programme’ is to accelerate African economic transformation, provide the needed skills and build resilience against the economic shock triggered by the Coronavirus Disease.
“The initiative seeks to build the capacity of one million enterprises in Africa through entrepreneurial and business training to improve access to finance and new markets while establishing networks for support and incubation to bolster their success,” the group said.
The Group Executive, Commercial Banking, at Ecobank, Josephine Anan-Ankomah, was quoted as saying, “As a financial institution, we reaffirm our commitment to support the ‘100,000 MSMEs’ initiative. Following the successful launch of the MSME Academy, we are going ahead with the financing component.
“We look forward to celebrating the businesses that will successfully go through this training programme and meet the criteria for financial support,” said Anan-Ankomah.
The group and its partners had in May 2020 agreed to tackle three main pillars in supporting MSMEs out of the devastating economic impact of COVID-19, which involve MSME Academy, MSME Finance and MSME Marketplace.
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