UBA Ghana says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Programme to support youth and women-led micro, small and medium-scale enterprises in Ghana.
According to a statement, the partnership was expected to scale up youth and women-led MSMEs, increase jobs, drive revenue and contribute significantly towards the reduction of environmental footprint.
It would also help to 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.
Under the partnership, UNDP and UBA Ghana were expected to co-develop and implement innovative programmes to strengthen the institutional capacity of UBA Ghana to access climate financing schemes including the Green Climate Fund.
The Managing Director of UBA Ghana and Regional Chief Executive Officer of UBA West Africa, Chris Ofikulu, said the partnership showed UBA’s commitment to supporting small businesses.
“Collaborating with UNDP demonstrates UBA Ghana’s commitment to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals, 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 said.
He added that the businesses would 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.
They would also be supported with energy efficiency audits and remedial actions to minimise their carbon footprints.
The UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana, Angela Lusigi, said, “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.”
