Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP)
The Trust Fund would be benefiting from a $40 million capitalisation under the World Bank’s Ghana Economic Transformation Program, to provide seed and venture capital to SMEs through the establishment of two funds, ie. Startup Catalyst Fund & Strategic Industries Fund, for co-investments in startups, SMEs with growth potential and strategic industries.ere
The Startup Catalyst (SC) Fund, which is originally a $20 million fund, will focus on promoting seed (startup) and very early stage funding to startups and SMEs with growth potential. The Start-up Catalytic Fund (SCF) will be structured to play an anchor role and also warehousing of investments from 1 – 3 years, and later converted into funds when the fund management team is able to secure a second investor. It would be sector agnostic, however, new innovations in areas that support economic transformation shall be prioritized. In terms of expectation, target return is expected to be between 5%-11% IRR with associated social impact focusing on job creation, industry income growth, livelihood support, women and youth empowerment and tax revenue generation to government.
From a fund size of $20million, the Strategic Industries (SI) Fund will invest in close ended funds into industries considered strategic to the economic development of Ghana. Actual investment size will also depend on the number of applicants that qualify for investment awards. The target return is expected to be between 10% IRR with associated social impact not limited to job creation, industry income growth, livelihood support and tax revenue generation. The SC Fund will aim to invest in experienced fund managers with proven track record with structured terms to allow the funds to reach the desired small and medium enterprises with ticket sizes within the range of 500K – 1M. The SI Fund will be positioned to make investments with focus on industries considered strategic to the economic tansformation of Ghana. The fund together with other participatory LPs will commit to close ended funds and GPs with experience and expertise in selected sectors and more importantly impact return expectations in making investment decisions.