Bridge In Finance

The Bridge-In Agric Financing project, launched in September 2023, is a transformative five-year initiative aimed at creating and sustaining dignified, fulfilling jobs for women and youth in Ghana. The project focuses on enabling Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in agriculture and related sectors (“AgriMSMEs”) to thrive by:

• Facilitating access to affordable capital.
• Equipping AgriMSMEs with the tools and resources to become investment ready.
• Generating employment opportunities, particularly for young people.

The program provides short- to medium-term loans at a single-digit interest rate, with reduced and alternative collateral requirements, making financing more accessible to AgriMSMEs.

Impact and Progress

The Bridge-In Agric initiative is poised to reach over 400,000 beneficiaries, with 70% of them being young women.

In the past year, Access Bank began implementing the Bridge-In Agric loan product after receiving approval from the Central Bank. Collaborating with CrossBoundary and Peswa, the Bank developed an online portal to streamline the application process for prospective AgriMSMEs.

To date, the Bank has supported seven agribusinesses across sectors such as poultry, beverage production, crop farming, feed production, aggregation, and food processing. 

This has resulted in:

• GHS 25 million disbursed in loans.
• 10,307 smallholder farmers were impacted.
• 700 youth sustained in employment.
• 216 new jobs created.

The Bridge-In Agric project exemplifies a commitment to fostering sustainable growth and opportunities in Ghana’s agricultural sector, empowering communities, and transforming lives.

http://bridgeinagric.com/