The Managing Director of FBNBank, Victor Yaw Asante has been appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF).

Mr Yaw Asante who was sworn in as the ninth member of the governing board of the VCTF is representing the Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) on the Board.

Other members of the Board of Trustees who were sworn in earlier include Kofi S. Yamoah as Board Chairman, the VCTF Chief Executive Officer, Yaw Owusu-Brempong, Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Ampontuah Kumah, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Kosi Yankey-Ayeh and Efua Appenteng as members.

The others are Kisseih Antonio, Mabel Nana Nyarkoah Porbley and Brian Frimpong.

The Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) was established by Venture Capital Trust Fund Act, 2004, (Act 680) to provide financing to Small and Medium Enterprises.

Since its inception, the VCTF has made a tremendous impact on venture capital financing in Ghana.

The vision of VCTF is to create a vibrant and well-structured venture capital industry boasting of investments in various sectors, leading to poverty reduction through jobs and wealth creation with collateral growth on government revenues.

The VCTF has been able to undertake this mandate through joint ventures with partners from varied sectors with interest in the venture capital/private equity ecosystem of Ghana, leveraging in excess of $77million in investments.

These partners include banks, insurance companies, funding institutions and public institutions.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Yaw Asante said, “Banks in Ghana have a key role to play in ensuring that the Venture Capital Trust Fund delivers on its mandate. Already banks are supporting the agenda of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as part of their day-to-day contribution toward the development of Ghana’s economy.

"With their partnership with the Venture Capital Trust Fund, there will certainly be a more focused delivery on the support for the SME agenda. This certainly puts me in a unique position, as the representative of the Ghana Association of Bankers, to help drive this agenda religiously, together with my colleague-members, ensuring that the Venture Capital Trust Fund progressively increases its support to SMEs thereby providing jobs and reducing poverty. It is a responsibility that I wholly embrace and am passionate about.”

Since its establishment in 2004, the VCTF has created seven funds with investments in over 60 companies leveraging US$89.7million from an invested capital of US$29million.

Recently, government secured $40 million from the World Bank Group for the VCTF to revitalise the Fund and strengthen its position in order to be able to support the transformation of SMEs, especially viable start-ups in the country.