Absa Bank Ghana has strengthened its support for Ghanaian businesses through shared insights, practical engagement, and tailored financial solutions.

It once again sponsored the 2025 Citi Business Festival, a month-long event that brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders, and experts to explore ideas that help businesses grow.

For Absa Bank, the festival aligns directly with its SME agenda of providing financing and the tools and confidence entrepreneurs need to succeed.

Absa’s broader SME support includes its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, through which the bank has disbursed over GHS 1.35 billion in loans at an annual interest rate of 10 per cent, supporting more than 8,000 small and medium-sized businesses.

These efforts have helped create over 56,000 jobs across the country.

The bank also recently opened its SME Banking Suite at its Adum branch in Kumasi - a dedicated space offering financial services, free meeting rooms, and internet access.

Furthermore, monthly SME Clinics offer practical coaching on areas like cashflow management, digital marketing, and business resilience.

The Citi Business Festival complements these efforts by bringing relevant conversations directly to the SME community and its extended stakeholders.

Subject matter experts from Absa Bank will join the festival’s programming to share insights on topics such as personal finance, agribusiness financing, and digital strategy-equipping entrepreneurs with knowledge they can act on.

“Our continued partnership with the Citi Business Festival is a deliberate alignment of purpose,” said Nana Essilfuah Tamakloe, Director of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Absa Bank Ghana.

“This platform allows us to share insights that help businesses grow. For us, it is not just about access to finance; it’s about building confidence, capability, and a thriving community that is plugged into the socio-economic growth of the country.

"That is how we bring our brand promise, Your Story Matters, to life.”

This year’s edition began Monday, June 2, 2025, and will deliver forums, clinics, and bootcamps under four thematic weeks: Personal Finance, Agribusiness, SME Development and Tech Startups.