 The African Project Development Facility (APDF) has been active in Ghana since 1987, serving the country initially from its West Africa Regional Headquarters in Abidjan. The Accra office was established in 1993 due to the high demand for APDF services in the country and the potential for its continued growth. The Government of Ghana’s long-term commitment to private sector-led growth fuelled the demand for APDF services. Since its establishment, the Accra office has supported the development of competitive and predominantly African owned and managed Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the preparation of business plans, sourcing financing, capacity building and enterprise support. Under its Business Advisory Services, the APDF Accra, since it began operations, has completed 87 projects in Ghana. The projects have resulted in the mobilization of approximately US$ 69.4 million in financing, the creation or preservation of about 7,846 jobs, and the generation of approximately US$ 89 million in exports earnings. In 1999, APDF integrated business development into its range of services under the name Enterprise Support Services (ESS). The ESS concept was introduced as a pilot project in Ghana in February 1996 under the name Enterprise Support Services for Africa (ESSA), and was jointly funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Under ESSA Ghana, 71 projects were completed for the provision of consulting services. 495 client personnel (16% women) benefited from 21 formal training programs and 4 training programs were offered to 105 local consultants. 530 client personnel received on-the-job training as part of the consulting process, and 328 new jobs were created in client firms out of which 108 of these were at the management/senior level. Below is a summary of outputs under the ESSA project.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS | Feb 1996- Mar 2001 | | Number of ESSA Clients | 94 | | Number of Projects/Contracts Completed | 71 | | Number of Projects Dropped/Referred to APDF | 23 | | Cost-Sharing % - Training Services | 56 | | Cost-Sharing % - Consulting Services | 50 | | Number of Client Group Training Programs | 21 | | Number of Client Personnel Trained | 495 | | Number of Consultant Training Programs | 4 | | Number of Consultants Trained | 105 | | Number of Consultant Firms Retained | 110 | | Number of Client Personnel Trained On-The-Job | 530 | | Number of Firm Specific Training Programs | 7 | | Number of Firm-Specific Training Participants | 595 | | Direct Jobs Created | 328 |
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From July 2000 to May 2003, APDF has assisted 45 companies with enterprise support services and delivered 108 consulting modules to these companies. A total 1,650 SME employees, 90 consultants and 150 financial institution staff have also received formal training. APDF Accra has also been involved in capacity building programmes and enterprise support activities with Business Associations in Ghana. So far the facility has assisted 17 Business Associations with management support to improve services for SMEs. Capacity Building programmes have also been organized for Business Development Service Providers to enable improved services to SMEs. Other services provided are; Business Linkages and Networks between SMEs and large multinationals/corporates and also between SMEs. The Facility also conducts market studies and surveys and the latest of these are the Financial Market Study Loan products with Ghanaian Banks and Financial Institutions, Donor Source Book and SME Country Mapping. In October 2001, APDF introduced the Diagnostic Tool, which facilitates the diagnosis of an enterprise’s operation to identify causes of problems it is encountering and recommend appropriate management consulting services. The Tool has been successfully applied to 19 enterprises in Accra from January 2002 to date. Based on the findings of the diagnostics, most of the enterprises were recommended for enterprise support and business advisory services. For more information, please contact: | Regional Manager: | Modou Badara Njie
mnjie@ifc.org | Address: | International Finance Corporation
No. 150, Roman Road
Roman Ridge
Accra, Ghana | Phone: | (233-21) 77 98 04
(233-21) 77 98 05
(233-21) 778 109
(233-21) 784 035
(233-21) 701 2170
(233-21) 701 217 | Fax: | (233-21) 774961
(233-21) 776245 |
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