ACA Co-Hosts Access to Finance Forum in Ghana

From 7-8 March, 2019, the African Cashew Alliance together with the Competitive Cashew Initiative/GIZ and Solidaridad organized a two day Access to Finance (A2F) forum in Accra for cashew processors and oil palm value chain actors based in Ghana.

Held at the Mensvic Grand Hotel in Accra, the forum welcomed 98 stakeholders from the two value chains with an aim to introduce available funding opportunities, which will enable the stakeholders to grow their businesses while clearly stating the risks and challenges of A2F.

Following an opening ceremony, the first day started with an overview presentation of the cashew and oil palm market. This was followed up by a panel discussion moderated by the African Cashew Alliance, on financing opportunities for agribusinesses and the actors’ experiences made as well as challenges encountered in accessing finance within the two value chains. The panel also discussed views on how to close the gap between agri-SME’s eligibility and credit risk appraisal criteria to finally achieve a match between the financial supply and demand for financing in the Ghanaian cashew and oil palm business environment.

This panel led up to a presentation session held on day 2, where selected financial institutions had the opportunity to present innovative financing solutions for agribusinesses, i.e. presenting the supply side in access to finance. This session was followed by a Q&A session between the stakeholders at the demand level and the financial institutions at the supply level.

The forum also featured business to business meetings where the stakeholders were matched to introduce their businesses, transact and discuss feasibilities in obtaining access to finance.

ACA is happy to have concluded another access to finance following a very successful edition in Cote d’Ivoire.