SNV GrEEn Investment Forums launched in Kumasi

The third edition of the annual GrEEn Investment Forum has been launched in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region with a call on the youth as well as small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to adopt green innovative projects, to help promote sustainable development and growth of the Ghanaian economy.

The chief executive officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant, who made this call in his keynote address at the event identified various economic opportunities in the African continent, available for the youth to leverage for development in a sustainable manner.

“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will boost exports, and help local SMEs reach the vast African market of 1.3 billion people, also There is a lot of private-sector capital out there for bankable green projects or businesses.

“Africa is strategically positioned because the youth bracket is large and we are also the continent with the fastest growing urbanization rate, Africa will have more citizens, by 2050, Africa will be one-quarter of the world’s population, but still, we will have that demography of 60% being the youth.”

He adds that the youth should be empowered by the government and key stakeholders to adopt SDG-compliant businesses to help combat the growing climate challenges that the world encounters.

“Everybody is concerned about the SDGs, the SDGs mean that we must inculcate first of all better behavior to avoid adding to the impact of global change, environmental degradation, and threats to agriculture, and so the innovation that the youth bracket brings is very important in ensuring that we are able to combat some of these things.

“The importance of the youth even in adopting SDG-compliant policies and SDG-compliant businesses is very critical, as we speak about SMEs and funding for SMEs we must ensure that the youth are part of that whole conversation,” he said.

The senior incubation and acceleration advisor on the Green Project, Genevieve Parker-Twum, who spoke to journalists, noted that the forum is intended for stakeholders to explore how they can promote investment opportunities for SMEs in the Ashanti Region and the country in general.

“The objective is to have discussions on how we can promote investment opportunities for SMEs, especially the early-stage SMEs. Oftentimes it’s easier for the growing SMEs to find investment for their businesses, but very early-stages SMEs struggle. So we want to know how we can promote investment for early-stage SMEs.”

The SNV GrEEn Investment Forums is in pursuit of the Green Projects objective of promoting sustainable development and growth of green SMEs at the local level.

The three-day event under the theme “Pathways to Promoting: Investment Opportunities in the Green and Circular economy” brought together investors, circular economy experts, key business stakeholders, and green businesses in the Ashanti Region to discuss opportunities in the sector.

The event aims to improve awareness of the economic opportunities in Ghana, to empower young investors to attract diaspora investors, as well as to demystify the investment landscape for green entrepreneurs in the Ashanti Region and Ghana generally.

Irene Pomaa Kumi

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