Ghana’s long-awaited Development Bank finally launches
After having been first conceived in 2017, the Development Bank Ghana (DBG) was finally launched this week to help catalyse growth in the country’s small and medium enterprise sector.
The DBG has an initial $700m to loan to private financial institutions – including CalBank, CBG, GCB and Fidelity Bank – who in turn will on-lend to SMEs.
The bank is financed through a consortium of loans from international lenders including the World Bank ($250m), the European Investment Bank ($170m), the German state-owned development bank KfW ($46.5m), the African Development Bank ($40m) and the government of Ghana ($253m).
“Today’s launch marks an important milestone in our journey and is the result of many months and years of hard work from the DBG taskforce and working group, our staff, and our partners. However, tomorrow is no time to be complacent. We have an enormous task ahead of us…DBG recognises the crucial role of SMEs in our country’s economy and has made it its mission to catalyse their growth. We cannot do this without operating as a united front alongside our partners,” says chief executive Kwamina Duker, a former managing director of Fidelity Bank Asia,
Long-term loans remain a barrier to the growth of SMEs
Ghana wants the new bank to ease the access to credit and finance for its SMEs, which comprise about 80% of businesses in Ghana, by providing loans with tenors greater than three years. An estimated one to two million SMEs in Ghana are estimated to generate some 70% of GDP.
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SOURCE : AFRICAN.BUSINESS
