Ghana secures $843 million from EU to support local banks and create jobs

The benefit is under the NASIRA financial programme of the EU which uses guarantees to allow local banks to on-lend to underserved entrepreneurs within the European neighbourhood and Sub-Saharan Africa.

It targets portfolios consisting of loans to youth, females and migrant entrepreneurs (including refugees, returnees and internally displaced people) and the goal of these guarantees is to allow local banks to provide loans to groups they normally perceive as too risky.

Speaking at the maiden Ghana-European Union Business Summit in Accra, the Vice President of the European Union Commission for Jobs, Growth and Investment, Mr Jyrki Katainen noted that said the Africa-European Alliance for Sustainable Jobs launched in September last year, considered job creation as a key pillar for resolving unemployment challenges in Africa.

He, therefore, called for continuous strengthening of partnerships and co-operation between Ghana and EU to achieve the vision of ensuring a win-win situation and accelerate economic development and prosperity for their peoples.

Mr Katainen pledged the EU’s commitment to supporting Ghana and other African nations to reach their goals through trade facilitation and innovations.

He said the business summit demonstrated the EU’s commitment to work in partnership with Ghana to accelerate socio-economic growth and lauded Ghana for being one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He urged Ghana to continue diversifying its economy in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing and services in order to increase exports to the EU market to boost her foreign exchange earnings.

He said Sub-Saharan Africa must create about 18 million jobs each year to absolve the teeming unemployed graduates and underlined the need to mobilise private sector investments to achieve that feat.

Ghana’s Vice President Bawumia who added his voice said the EU represented the largest source of foreign direct investment to Ghana with $300 million annually and the biggest provider of development assistance of more than $500 million.

He said the spirit and the letter of the “Ghana beyond Aid” agenda revolved around four growth poles, including; mobilising domestic resources, enhancing agriculture modernisation for industrial development, strengthening the private sector as the engine of growth, building stable and resilient economy that is transformative and inclusive with the appropriate policy interventions.