Building Resilience and Investing in the Development and Growth of Entrepreneurs in Agriculture (BRIDGE-In-Agriculture)

This program is a USD 117 million partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and CrossBoundary, in a consortium of banks, business development service (BDS) providers, and a technology provider. The consortium seeks to implement a five-year program designed to facilitate access to affordable capital for SMEs in agriculture and adjacent sectors in Ghana.

Through training, the program will also equip SMEs with core access to finance support and provide young people (minimum 70% women) with the skills to secure dignified and fulfilling work. The program will (i) incentivize commercial banks to lend to agri-SMEs at single-digit interest rates (ii) train agri-SMEs and upskill youth and women to gain fulfilling employment, and (iii) create an environment for stakeholders to collaborate. SMEs will leverage this affordable and inclusive financing to expand operations and create new jobs, leading to poverty reduction among the youth and women in Ghana.

Through training, the program will also equip SMEs with core access to finance support and provide young people (minimum 70% women) with the skills to secure dignified and fulfilling work. The program will (i) incentivize commercial banks to lend to agri-SMEs at single-digit interest rates (ii) train agri-SMEs and upskill youth and women to gain fulfilling employment, and (iii) create an environment for stakeholders to collaborate. SMEs will leverage this affordable and inclusive financing to expand operations and create new jobs, leading to poverty reduction among the youth and women in Ghana.