Ashesi’s Ghana Climate Innovation Centre launches green business programme with the German Development Corporation

Story in Brief:

• Ashesi University’s Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) and the German Development Cooperation – implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – have announced a new partnership to help boost economic growth in Ghana.
• The initiative aims to provide business incubation, acceleration programmes, and grant financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana to bolster their operations and improve climate adaptation practices within their enterprises.

Read More
Though SMEs make up 90% of businesses in Ghana, a study conducted by Ashesi and Impact Investing Ghana identified that they face a significant financing deficit. In addition, new business streams that contribute to green growth, are still in their early stages. It is against this backdrop that the GIZ’s Private and Financial Sector Programme is implementing this initiative.

Participating businesses are expected to promote environmentally sustainable businesses and create employment opportunities that will have a positive impact on business performance, and employee livelihoods. This initiative aligns with Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement (2020 – 2030).

“This collaboration between GCIC and the GIZ-PFS Programme exemplifies our commitment to building the capacities of SMEs to operate sustainably,” explained Dr. Christian Jahn, the Head of the Private and Financial Sector Program at GIZ. Additionally, all participating businesses will have the opportunity to access financial grants of up to 10,000 Euros per business.

As the executing partner for the program, Ashesi’s Ghana Climate Innovation Centre brings a decade of expertise in incubating early and growth-stage enterprises in the green economy. A key actor in driving green growth in Ghana, the Centre has supported some 200 small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that have created over 2,000 jobs. This new partnership with GIZ further bolsters the Centre’s collaboration efforts.

“Since inception, one of Ashesi University’s priorities has been enabling sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa,” shared Ashesi’s President Patrick Awuah. “The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre plays a strong role in taking this commitment to many more beyond our campus. We are excited to collaborate with GIZ to expand this work further.”