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Co-funded by the European Union

Assessing the Feasibility for a Social Enterprise Fund in Ghana

Location

Ghana

Topic

Social Economy, Women's Economic Empowerment

Status

Ongoing

Year

2023

Context

According to a British Council report in 2016 [1], around 100 social enterprises in Ghana have created a total of around 1,000 jobs, have impacted the lives of more than 100,000 beneficiaries and have generated a combined turnover of £1.4 million (almost 8 million cedis) in a year. Nearly 40% of all the social enterprise leaders are female, almost three times the mainstream business. The biggest barrier to social enterprise development is obtaining grant funding, debt or equity capital, resulting from limited access to investor networks and various other factors. Due to gender bias and family responsibilities, women in Ghana are more likely to have financial difficulties when looking to start a business.

 

Social Enterprise Ghana, as the national representative body for social enterprises, has an important role to play in addressing the financial challenges faced by social enterprises and is working to develop and advocate for an ecosystem that is fit for purpose. Building on previous work through the ICR Facility to finalise a national Social Enterprise Policy [2], SE Ghana is now seeking a feasibility study on establishing a social enterprise and innovation fund, with particular emphasis on supporting women and green start-ups.

Objective

The objective of the intervention is to assess the feasibility and operational needs of a social enterprise fund in Ghana to support gender- and green-related outcomes.

The study will be undertaken in two stages. The first stage will include the following:

  1. A review of demand for, and supply of, capital for social enterprises in Ghana, including those supporting gender and green outcomes;
  2. A critical review of successful social enterprise funds elsewhere;
  3. A critical review of existing funds and enabling conditions in Ghana;
  4. An outline model of a fund that supports the growth and sustainability of social enterprises, and especially supports those owned by or supporting women/girls, and green enterprises delivering SDG goals.

At the second stage, upon agreement with SE Ghana and British Council, the following components will be analysed:

  • The prevailing conditions in Ghana relating to the fund (e.g. the Draft SE policy, MSME policy, Draft Ghana Start-up bill)
  • Prevailing investment conditions in Ghana (e.g. appetite for investment and financial risk, investment tax regimes)
  • The structuring and registration of the fund to meet legal requirements and to align with fund regulators (e.g. Bank of Ghana, Securities and Exchanges Commission)
  • The fund’s administration and staffing, and the skillsets required
  • The products offered by the fund to deliver gender and green outcomes
  • Robust financial projections over a multi-year period, incl. for administration, assumptions underlying repayments etc.
  • Potential sources and models/structures of incoming funding
  • The nature of links between the fund and key stakeholder groups (f.e. Ministry of Finance, Impact Investing Ghana, Development Bank Ghana, SDG Secretariat at Ghana’s Presidency)
  • The next steps that need to be taken and by who to setup the fund

It is expected that the results of the feasibility study will be presented to and validated by a group of relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

 

[1] Survey: social enterprise in BGD, GHA, IND & PAK | British Council

[2] Social Enterprise Ghana: Business Environment Reform for Social Enterprises | ICR Facility (icr-facility.eu)

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