A seven-member committee to oversee the approval or rejection of grant requests from Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME) under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP) has been inaugurated in Accra.
Funded by the World Bank, the project, which includes various grant programmes, is being implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA).
Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T Hammond, who inaugurated the committee yesterday, said, the Committee was expected to grant final approval for grant recommendations submitted for their reviews and to proffer reasons for rejecting any grant requests.
The grants committee, he said, would have oversight over four Technical Assistance (TA) and Grant Programmes, namely; SME High Growth Programme, Youth in MSME Programme, Women MSME Programme and PWD Enterprise Support Programme.
He said, the SME High Growth Programme was targeting High Growth Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to support productivity and competitiveness enhancing initiatives by such firms to accelerate their growth.
Mr Hammond noted that the Youth in MSME Programme was introduced to target Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) owned by young people between the ages of 18 and 35 years.
The Women MSME Programme, he explained, was developed exclusively for female-owned enterprises ranging from Micro to Medium sized firms.
Also, he said, the PWD Enterprise Support Programme was set up for only Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as well as startups owned by Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) or firms having most of their employees being PWDs.
The Minister said the inauguration of the committee was necessitated by the dictates of the Project Implementation Manual which requires the set-up of the committee.
He tasked the committee to undertake their duties dispassionately, fairly and with an open mind.
The members of the committee thereafter expressed the appreciation for the opportunity and promised to work diligently to achieve the desired project development objective of the project.
The GETP is part of the government’s initiative to promote private investments and firm growth in non-resource-based sectors.
It involves the deployment of Technical Assistance and Grants for the most qualified businesses outside the extractive oil and gas sectors.
The Ghana Enterprises Agency is responsible for the implementation of the project’s flagship programme, the SME High Growth Programme, and other Technical Assistance and Grant Programmes of the Project.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
