THE ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the Government of Ghana have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to inject some $200 million into the Ghanaian economy.
It is intended to stimulate the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and other critical sectors of the economy, foster job creation, innovation and sustainable development.
This brings to $600 million EBID’s total commitment to Ghana’s economy.
It is to be disbursed through strategic alliances with the Ghana EXIM Bank and GCB Bank PLC. The support is further demonstration of EBID’s commitment to support economies of member states.
Agreement
An MoU to formalise the arrangement was signed at the bank’s headquarters in Lome, Togo, last Friday.
The Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, led a delegation from Ghana to Lome for the event.
While Mr Adam signed on behalf of Ghana, the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, Dr George Agyekum Donkor, signed for the bank.
Other members on the Ghana delegation were the Chief Executive Officer of GEXIM, Lawrence Agyinsam, the Executive Director, Wholesale and Investment Banking at GCB Bank PLC, Samuel Aidoo, as well as some senior management officers from the Finance Ministry.
About EBID
The EBID is the development finance institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which comprises of 15 member states.
The bank expressed its commitment to finance development projects and programmes such as infrastructure and basic amenities, rural development and environment, industry and the social services sectors through its private and public sector windows.
The EBID provides long, medium and short-term loans, equity participation, lines of credit, refinancing, financial engineering operations and related services.
Significance
Dr Donkor said the agreement epitomised EBID's unwavering dedication to fostering economic growth and shoring up resilience across ECOWAS member states.
He said the tripartite alliance between EBID, GEXIM and GCB Bank PLC, exemplified EBID's strategic thrust to bolster the recovery and transformation agenda of member states by channelling vital resources into pivotal sectors of their economies.
Such collaborative involvement, Dr Donkor said, underscored EBID's commitment to forging partnership synergies within the finance and investment domain, serving as a trailblazing model for future regional collaborations and investments.
He commended Ghana for its steadfast support through the payment of its subscribed share of capital and other commitments to the bank.
Sustainable transformation
For his part, Dr Adam underscored the importance of organisations such as EBID in driving sustainable transformation amid the prevailing global challenges.
He lauded the profound impact of EBID under the leadership of Dr Donkor and was optimistic about the bank's continued role in shaping the region's development agenda.