Akufo-Addo, has launched the Ghana Enterprises Agency (formerly NBSSI), the National Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and Entrepreneurship Policy, and the GEA Grant Support for SMEs, under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project, which is supported by the World Bank.

According to Akufo Addo, the National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Entrepreneurship Policy is the first of its kind in Ghana, adding that “it is a policy designed to direct the growth of the sector, provide clear policy direction and opportunities for all actors within the MSME space, to enable them contribute meaningfully towards the development of the country”.

President Akufo Addo noted “The policy direction is to reduce, if not eliminate, the duplication of efforts currently being witnessed in the MSME sector, ensure the judicious use of resources, implement programmes to formalize and support the informal sector, and design interventions to support MSMEs in the country”.

He added that the Ghana Enterprises Agency has been prescribed by the National MSME and Entrepreneurship Policy to implement the Policy.

“The Act establishing the Agency makes GEA the apex body to co-ordinate and promote the growth and development of MSMEs in the country. GEA will lead the way in creating a dynamic MSME ecosystem and entrepreneurial community to help propel Ghana’s growth,” he said.

To this end, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the GEA SME Grant Fund has been established to support SMEs to recover from the effects of COVID-19, and also help them to resuscitate their operations under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project.

Disbursement of this grant, amounting to one hundred and forty-five million cedis (GH¢145 million), he stressed, will be made to two hundred and fifty (250) to three hundred and fifty (350) SMEs to help them grow into sustainable businesses, capable of competing on the regional, continental and global stages.