Financial Institution Resilience and Strengthening (FIRST+ Scale UP) | Mastercard Foundation

Financial Institution Resilience and Strengthening (FIRST+ Scale UP)

CapitalPlus Exchange (CapPlus) logo

Status

closed

Period

July 16 2024 - July 16 2028

Countries

Ghana

In Partnership With

CapitalPlus Exchange (CapPlus) and the Mastercard Foundation have partnered on an industry wide collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Microfinance Institution Network (GHAMFIN). The program aims to strengthen financial institutions to enable them to increase lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and create work opportunities for 60,000 Ghanaian women and men of all ages.

Target Impact

Generate 60,000 work opportunities for Ghanaians.

Impact to Date

  • 48,864

    48,864 MSMEs have been financed, including 31,741 women-led MSMEs

  • $1B

    Established partnership with Oikocredit, a $1B investment fund, to support the program and the Mastercard Foundation’s impact objectives.

  • 487

    Delivered training and capacity building to 487 financial institutions to improve their ability to do MSME finance and other related banking functions.

Partnership Focus

Build the capacity of players within the financial sector, including savings and loans companies, rural and small business-focused banks, microfinance, and related institutions by addressing underlying challenges that inhibit their lending to MSMEs.

Strengthen technical assistance of financial institution operators to expand their lending to small businesses; increase their attractiveness to investors and create linkages to potential sources of capital; and advance their digitization to improve outreach.

Expand training and skills-building