United Bank for Africa, UNDP sign MoU to boost inclusive and green entrepreneurship in Ghana

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support youth and women-led Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana to scale up their businesses, increase jobs and revenue and contribute to reduced environmental footprint.

The partnership is also seeking to support UBA Ghana to access climate financing schemes to increase financial inflows from climate funding channels to support Ghana’s efforts to turn climate commitments into actions.

Chris Ofikulu, Managing Director of UBA Ghana and Regional Chief Executive Officer of UBA West Africa highlighted the significance of the partnership, saying, “Collaborating with UNDP demonstrates UBA Ghana’s commitment to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular focus on providing custom financial solutions and growth opportunities for businesses of all sizes to facilitate inter and intra-African trade”.

Through the partnership, businesses will receive a tailored programme of business 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 will also be supported with energy efficiency audits and remedial actions to minimize their carbon footprints.

Dr. Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana noted that “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."

The MOU will promote Inclusive, Resilient and Green Entrepreneurship, by leveraging UNDP’s expertise in working with MSMEs and innovators, and UBA Ghana’s expertise in supporting businesses.

UBA, the leading financial institution in Africa with its extensive network spanning over 31 branch networks in Ghana and 20 countries in Africa, 1000 branches, and 35 million customers, aims to capitalize on UNDP’s strong capabilities as the lead UN development agency to support MSMEs, including those who have received support from UNDP’s innovation challenge programmes.

UNDP-UBA MOU Signing Group Photo