The Development Bank Ghana (DBG) is stepping up efforts to unlock long-term financing for businesses in the textile sector.

The bank says it has identified five textile projects that are now being presented to participating financial institutions for possible financing.

Chief Executive Officer of DBG, Prof Randolph Nsor-Ambala, said the textile industry remains one of the bank’s priority areas under manufacturing.

He said DBG is providing more than just credit to businesses in the sector.

“It’s actually one of our priority areas under manufacturing.”

Prof Nsor-Ambala said DBG’s broader mandate covers agriculture, manufacturing, ICT and high-value services.

He said the bank has made significant investments across these value chains.

Within manufacturing, the bank is focusing on textiles, pharmaceuticals and energy transition.

Prof Nsor-Ambala said DBG is also prioritising youth-led and women-owned businesses. It is also seeking to expand financing beyond Greater Accra.

“Currently, about 40% of our investments, or a little bit above 40% of our investments, are into hard-to-reach areas that are outside Greater Accra or what you call the Golden Triangle.”

The CEO said DBG has adopted a whole-of-value-chain approach to supporting the textile sector.

He disclosed that the bank signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with the Association of Ghana Industries focused specifically on textiles.

Under the agreement, DBG committed to financing textile businesses and supporting market development and capacity building.

It also committed to providing technical assistance to help businesses develop investor-ready projects.

Prof Nsor-Ambala said the partnership has already produced tangible results.

He said DBG recently worked with GIZ, Palladium, JET, and other partners to train businesses in the textile sector, with support from international experts.

That initiative led to the creation of a deal room to assess and develop projects for financing.

“As we speak, we have currently road-showed five of those projects that came out of that deal room across various participating financial institutions, and they’re at various levels of approval.”

Prof Nsor-Ambala expects some of the projects to secure financing before the end of the year.

“My sense of it is that before the end of the year, at least about two of them would have received credit approval and then disbursement.”

DBG is also conducting a nationwide feasibility study into the textile sector with support from KfW.

The study has identified challenges facing the industry and projects that are potentially bankable but require specific interventions to attract financing.

The bank is now working with those businesses to make them investor-ready.

“As we speak, we are working with those businesses with a timeline of up to the end of November to make them investor-ready and then help them through our participating financial institutions to receive adequate funding.”

Prof Nsor-Ambala said development partners remain critical to DBG’s ability to provide long-term financing.

“They are bringing a significant chunk of the cash, and they are willing to do more.”

He said the partners have also provided technical expertise and resources to help the bank address market failures and binding constraints that businesses face.

“They have been phenomenal in service and technical assistance. It has been massively supported by their resources, both money and time.”