Ghana benefits from $3m Grameen Foundation microfinance, technology programme

Ghana is one of the developing countries to benefit from a Grameen Foundation and JP Morgan initiative for microfinance and technology.

The initiative known as Bankers without Borders (BwB) sends senior working professionals for short-term, fields based or remote skills-based projects that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) and technology-for-development initiatives.

The Foundation has said in a press statement that the programme will be supported by a three-year, $3 million grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.

It said since the program’s launch, approximately 3,000 professionals from around the world have registered with BwB, and many have supported high priority needs of MFIs or networks on projects in areas such as: portfolio risk management, human capital development, social performance management, and information and communication technology innovations.

According to the statement, volunteers have contributed more than $2.3 million of in-kind service to Grameen Foundation and MFIs in nine countries, including Ghana, Haiti, China, India and Tunisia.

The Grameen Foundation was founded by world renowned economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who is also the founder of Grameen Bank. Dr. Yunus is the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

The Grameen Foundation is a global nonprofit organization, which helps the world’s poorest people access financial services and technology solutions by providing financing, technology support and management strategies to the local organizations that serve them.

Microfinance has been identified as an integral part of the effort to grow Ghana’s economy and as a source that has the capacity to buoy an already vibrant and imaginative informal sector in Ghana.

An economist, Dr. Nii Moi recently observed that the country’s informal sector controls about 80% of the economy.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi