By Obiabin Onukwugha
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UBA Ghana, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support youth and women-led micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana.
The partnership, according to a report from the UNDP, is aimed at scaling up youth and women-led MSMEs, increase jobs, drive revenue and contribute significantly towards the reduction of environmental footprint.
UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana, Dr. Angela Lusigi, who spoke on the partnership, recently, said it will also help beneficiaries access climate financing schemes and increase financial inflows from climate funding channels in order to support Ghana’s efforts to turn climate commitments into actions.
The UNDP boss explained that the MOU will promote Inclusive, Resilient and Green Entrepreneurship, by leveraging UNDP’s expertise in working with MSMEs and innovators, and UBA Ghana’s expertise in supporting businesses.
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“The UNDP is working to influence the flow of resources towards development by encouraging investors and businesses of all sizes to embed the SDGs and Climate action into their analytics, decision making and business practices,” he stated.
On his part, Managing Director of UBA Ghana and Regional Chief Executive Officer of UBA West Africa, Chris Ofikulu, who highlighted the significance of the partnership, described it as a welcome development as UBA Ghana specializes in providing innovative financing to businesses including SMEs.
He said: “Collaborating with UNDP demonstrates UBA Ghana’s commitment to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular focus on providing custom financial solutions and growth opportunities for businesses of all sizes to facilitate inter–and-intra-African trade”.
He explained that the businesses will also receive a tailored programme of service support and capacity development in areas including corporate governance, branding, marketing, financial support, and product design/development to enable easier access to markets for their products and services.
“By this partnership, UNDP and UBA Ghana will co-develop and implement a suite of innovative programmes and mechanisms to strengthen the institutional capacity of UBA Ghana to access climate financing schemes including the Green Climate Fund (GCF)”, he stated.
