ENGINE Program

Objectives

• Managed the grant program Fund of £4.086 Million to benefit 500 SMEs in Ghana and facilitated access to finance for participating businesses.
• Reviewed applications for enterprises for use of grant funds (e.g., audit services, market research, loan collateral, etc.)
• Conducted due diligence on applicants across twelve industries and sectors.
• Established processes for pre-selecting business service providers to work with the program.
• Developed rules and procedures for working with business service providers.
• Reviewed quality of work product of business service providers.
• Developed rules and regulations for Business Advisory Service (BAS) providers to participate in the program.
• Developed and administered system for linking BAS providers and participating businesses.
• Developed and administered an evaluation system for quality Business Advisory Service provider services.
• Administered payment systems to Business Advisory Service providers.
• Provided monthly, quarterly, and annual Reports on status of Fund to the Steering Committee

Results

• Prepared ENGINE supported businesses to have access to various credit products including Contingent liabilities (i.e., bonds & guarantees, letters of credit, bid securities, comfort letters etc.) Short Term Loans, Medium- & Long-Term Loans, Overdraft Facilities etc.
• Developed a clear-cut redemption letters to guide the procurement processes for disbursement. This resulted in the increase of burn rate whilst providing prudent checks for efficient utilization of project funds.
• Supervised and managed the disbursement of project funds from DFID to SMEs to procure assets used as collateral to secure facilities from FIs.
• Facilitated linkage of over 260 SMEs to access credit facilities from FIs, PEs. Impact Funds etc. in Ghana.
• Provided basic accounting and records keeping training to over 150 SMEs and this helped them to secure facilities from FIs, MFIs, IFs, PEs etc.
• Organised SME/Investor Dialogue sessions major cities of Ghana which resulted in entrepreneurs securing financial support from investors and financial institutions in Ghana.
• Initiated the access of 14 SMEs to the Ghana Alternative Stock Exchange (GAX) to secure patience capital for long term investments and expansion