The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has commenced engagements with financial institutions particularly commercial banks in the country to come up with funding solutions for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The engagements with the banks according to the Board’s Executive Director, Kosi Yankey Ayeh, is to end the high cost of funding and limited access to finance for MSMEs.
Touching on the subject in a media interaction, Ms Ayeh noted engagements with the banks has so far been fruitful and that an agreement will soon be reached.
“We have discussed our findings and interventions with the banks and insurance companies, we want to come up with options to access to finance and products for MSMEs that banks and insurance firms can adopt and work with. So we have and still are interacting with them to have their feedback and input to know if it makes sense and how we can implement it,” she said.
“So our partnership with MasterCard will help us implement it when an agreement is reached and ensure that a lot of financial institutions buy into it so we can create more opportunities for access to finance for MSMEs,” she added.
With the advent of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which begins January 1, 2021, easy access to funding by MSMEs will be pivotal and prove to be essential in their ability to take advantage of the over 1.2 billion African market.
The NBSSI engagements with banks on funding solutions for MSMEs is supported by the MasterCard Foundation through its Africa Works Partnership initiative.
