The World Bank, German development agency KfW, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have also provided funds, Development Bank of Ghana CEO Kwamina Duker told Archyde.com. , ahead of its official launch on Tuesday.
Businesses with 100 or fewer workers struggle to get loans in Ghana, World Bank report https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/934351587974318392/improving-access-to-finance-for-ghanaian-smes-role-for-a-new-dfi estimating that the gap between supply and demand was equivalent to 13% of GDP in 2017.
“(There is) very little long-term financing available, at rates that will allow our SMEs (small and medium enterprises) to grow,” Duker said.
DBG is owned by the Ghanaian government, which is contributing $250 million in equity. The AfDB is providing $40 million, while the World Bank is lending $200 million and the EIB and KfW 170 million euros ($177.7 million) and 46.5 million euros, respectively.
Duker said it would lend between $5 million and $30 million to commercial banks, with four of them – CalBank, Consolidated Bank Ghana, Fidelity Bank of Ghana and GCB Bank – having already committed.
These banks would then make loans over three fifteen years, from $25,000 to $3 million, to small businesses.
The goal of DBG, which currently has 40 employees, is to increase the proportion of loans to small businesses in Ghana from around 9% to 15% within two years, Duker said.
Duker declined to give details on interest rates, but said they would be lower than those currently commercially available.
Inflation in Ghana hit a new 18-year high of 27.6% in May and interest rates were raised by 200 basis points to 19% in the same month in an attempt to stem rising prices.
“Is this a tough time? Absolutely,” Duker said. “Is this a time when a development bank is needed more than ever? Absolutely.”
(1 $ = 0,9566 euros)
