The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) of Ashesi University and the German Development Cooperation – implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – today announced a new partnership worth about EUR 1.2 million for the realisation of the Business Incubation and Acceleration Programme for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to promote economic growth.  

The brief signing ceremony, which was attended by Patrick Awuah,  the President of Ashesi University and Ruka Sanusi, the Executive Director of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, served to highlight the need to promote green business practices and create jobs. This initiative is in line with Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The focus is on mitigating climate change and using climate-friendly technologies for economic growth. The “Ghana Green Jobs Strategy” aims to create over one million jobs by 2030. 

Impacting Economic Growth through MSMEs  

MSMEs are the backbone of Ghana’s economy, representing about 90% of all businesses and accounting for over two-thirds of employment. Currently, some of the biggest obstacles these MSMEs face are the lack of business skills, low access to credit, high borrowing costs, lack of management capacity, and lack of access to the market. In addition, new business streams that contribute to green growth, are still at its infant stage.  

For this reason, the GIZ Support to the Private and Financial Sector (PFS) Programme is implementing the Business Incubation and Acceleration Programme.