Take advantage of sustainable financing mechanisms to grow your business – GCB MD
Mr Kofi Adomakoh, the Managing Director of GCB Bank, has called on entrepreneurs to take advantage of sustainable financing mechanisms available locally to grow their businesses.
He said Green Climate Funds, in partnership with local Banks, had disbursed about $82.4 million so far to businesses.
Mr Adomakoh made the call at the 4th Standford Seed Transformation Network’s (STN), Ghana Conference on Business Transformation in Accra.
The event was on the theme:” Transformation Continuum.”
He said, “Companies operating in Ghana can take advantage of the sustainable financing opportunities immediately.”
The Managing Director said with the Climate Investment Fund about $115 million had been disbursed with a mix of programmes focusing on agriculture and energy.
Mr Adomakoh said even though these fundings were long-term, businesses must get their projects right.
“We are looking forward to working with businesses to make sure we build climate friendly and sustainable projects,” he added.
He said sustainability did not mean businesses sacrificing their projects or putting their successes on the backburner.
“Instead, it has become a crucial element to any organisation’s success strategy,” he said.
Madam Stephanie Sullivan, US Ambassador to Ghana, said innovation could mean combining pre-existing ideas and technologies in novel ways.
She said, “as we plan our own personal and business transformations, it’s also important to look at the big picture: the business environment in Ghana and globally.”
“We all know the importance of infrastructure to support inclusive economic development and, more broadly, human development,” she said.
Madam Sullivan said robust infrastructure could transform an able local provider into a global supplier.
The US Ambassador said private sector leadership in climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equity and equality was the key to success, both globally and in Ghana.
She said a network was only as good as the connections that hold it together, urging them to leverage the power of the Network and direct their energies towards developing Ghana’s economy considering these four focus areas.
Mrs Linda Yaa Ampah, the President for STN, Ghana Chapter said the conference sought to empower businesses to scale up.
She said the business world was becoming more challenging by the day and there was always a cliché such as “Funding challenges”, “rising cost of doing business as result of high taxes, high interest rates, high cost of energy”.
She said 2020 brought with it a lot of challenges but at the same time it created a lot of opportunities, and “we are grateful to God that we are all here to continue to pursue initiatives and activities that would contribute to developing Ghana’s economy.”
She said additionally, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represented an important milestone in achieving an economically integrated Africa which provided opportunities for businesses.
She encouraged the regulators of the business environment to closely follow the discussions and provide the services that would enable businesses thrive and contribute even better to Ghana’s GDP.
“This is because our member companies made up of over 120 Ghanaian SMEs spread across 15 sectors are contributing immensely to Ghana’s development and national agenda aligned with the SDGs,” she added.
Source: GNA