USAID announces $500,000 grant support for SMEs in Northern Ghana’s Agricultural Sector

The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced its $500,000 Innovative Finance Grant Window to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in northern Ghana.

The grant program, which is part of the Feed the Future Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity, aims to leverage private lender capital to support improved access to finance, input supply, and business development services that drive agriculture-led economic growth in Ghana.

The MSR’s Innovative Finance Grant Window will support the development and economic growth in maize, shea, Bambara beans, soybeans, cowpea, groundnut, moringa, mango, and vegetable value chains, as well as their value addition, in 17 designated districts across the Northern, Northeast, Upper West, and Upper East regions.

The MSR’s Agribusiness and Financial Services team head, Mr Raymond Denteh, revealed this at a public roadshow in Accra.

He said the programme was aimed at harnessing private lender resources to enhance access to finance, input supply, and business development services that boost agriculture-led economic growth.

“The Innovative Finance Grant Window targets three main categories namely, Financial Institutions including commercial banks, micro-finance institutions, rural banks, and non-bank financial institutions including impact investors, financial technology companies, as well as agric service providers including input and business development service providers,” he stated.

Mr. Denteh explained that the grants were intended to lower the cost of agricultural lending, increase the liquidity of financial service providers, and encourage more agriculture service providers to offer targeted financial services to SMEs in USAID’s 17-district zone of influence within Ghana’s four northern regions.

Speaking to the media, Mr Cecil Osei, the program’s Deputy Chief of Party, stated that the Innovation Finance Grant Window will incentivize Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to mobilize $18.5M in credit and capital by the conclusion of the project.

“It will provide incentive payments to FSPs that increase access to finance for Micro-Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and increase uptake of inputs to intensify agricultural production in northern Ghana,” he said.
On eligibility, he announced that applicants must be those who actively provide financial services in Northern Ghana within the USAID’s 17- district zone of influence and do not have any active exclusions in the United Nations, World Bank, or other international compliance databases.

“Eligible applicants must be officially registered and must be working in compliance with all applicable civil and fiscal regulations, including but not limited to pertinent local laws and status, and must have a National Tax Identification Number and any requisite permits, licenses, and registrations required,” he said.

Meanwhile, the USAID has organized a series of public roadshows in Accra, Tamale, Bolgatanga, and Wa from April 14 to 20, 2023 to inform prospective candidates on the grant procedure.

Prospective candidates would benefit from the roadshows by better understanding the purpose, eligibility requirements, and grant application processes.

The Ghana MSR Activity is a five-year project led by Agricultural Cooperative Development International (ACDI) and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (VOCA) that focuses on strengthening commercial relationships between market actors such as outgrower businesses, smallholder farmers, producers, processors, buyers, input suppliers, and lenders in order to expand agribusiness in the northern regions.

The MSR supports inclusive economic growth and works to fully engage women, youth, and people with disabilities in all its programming and grant funding opportunities.