Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) has reached an agreement with two fund managers, Mirepa Investment Advisors and Wangara Green Ventures, to disburse some ¢35 million to more viable Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

The support, known as Startup Catalyst Fund, puts the total capital deployment towards SME financing to ¢60 million in two months.

Speaking to Joy Business, Chief Executive of Venture Capital Trust Fund, Yaw Owusu-Brempong said the initiative seeks to boost local production as part of measures to control the cedi’s rate of depreciation.

“We are in an era where because of what is happening to the cedi, if we start consuming made in Ghana definitely there will be less pressure on the cedi”, he said.

Mr. Owusu-Brempong added “so most of our funds are going to concentrate on agri-processing as well as concentrating on companies that are conscious of the environment like waste management.”

Fund Managers

Mirepa Investment Advisors and Wangara Green Ventures were selected through a competitive process with their expertise and also ability to provide the needed support to identified SMEs whiles accelerating growth.

In an interview with Joy Business, a representative of Mirepa said the investment could not have come at a better time.

“For us it is an exciting time because this is the time that we believe we should be supporting local businesses especially considering what is happening with the macroeconomic situation in Ghana”, he said.

For his part, Ebenezer Arthur of Wangara said in the next five years, the company hopes to have crossed 10 million in assets under management, having supported more than 20 companies and expanded its own investment activities beyond Ghana and supporting local businesses to expand beyond the sub-region.

“We think that Ghana needs to build its economy but build it in a green way and that is why we are supporting these green companies to ensure that we are building a green economy and not just supporting companies for the sake of it”, he added.

The CEO of Venture Capital Trust Fund said his outfit intends to deploy about ¢100 million by the end of 2022.

The Director of the Financial Sector Division of the Ministry of Finance, Sampson Akligoh, described the investment by VCTF as timely, adding that it comes at a time where the country continues to battle with external factors that have made economic recovery from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic challenging.

The Ministry “looks forward to the beginning of SMEs becoming conscious of their climate footprint and impact on the environment”, he said.

Future Disbursement

Over the next five years, VCTF intends to deploy ¢1.5 billion to support SMEs.

“With this amount, we intend to leverage about ¢5 for every ¢1 spent, thereby increasing the capital pool to stakeholders in the finance industry,” said the CEO.

He added that his outfit will continue to support further development of VC/PE ecosystem through technical assistance facility.

VCFT intends to build the capacity of the next generation of Fund Managers through a newly developed flagship programme such as the Fund Manager Development Programme (FMDP) with support and partnership with the Ghana Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (GVCA), and the Venture Capital Analyst Programme (V-CAP) to build analytical capacities of young graduates for jobs in private equity and venture capital.