Ecobank Group CEO, Ade Ayeyemi,has reiterated Ecobank’s commitment to AUDA-NEPAD’s (the African Union Development Agency) ‘100,000 MSMEs by 2021’ initiative and specifically confirmed its support in building the digital platform, developing content for the MSME Academy and participating in lending to African MSMEs.
The second virtual workshop facilitated by McKinsey on June 11, 2020 provided an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of sustaining market access and strengthening capabilities for MSMEs. During this session, high level representatives from the African Union Commission, regional development banks, development financial institutions, international organisations and commercial banks from the continent, agreed to put in place the AUDA-NEPAD “100,000 MSMEs by 2021” programme.
The AUDA-NEPAD and Ecobank Group will work with other African likeminded institutions and businesses to utilize the platform for monitoring and benchmarking, thus allowing members and MSMEs to share their experiences, best practices, national policies, and challenges, and avail resources to support African businesses and economies to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic.
The AUDA-NEPAD MSME programme will have five pillars which are AUDA MSME Academy, MSME Financing Support Programme,MSME Marketplace,MSME Micro-health insurance Scheme and MSME digital platform
These five pillars are designed to ensure that MSMEs across the continent are supported to become more resilient, improve their market access and take advantage of technology to tap into the African market of 1.3 billion consumers and leverage the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
AUDA-NEPAD chief executive officer Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki commended the contribution of all the financial institutions, development partners and other stakeholders who participated in designing the “100,000 MSMEs by 2021” programme. He emphasised the need for all actors to work together and support the private sector in Africa, in order to protect employment and to create the 440 million jobs the continent will need by 2030.
Governments have committed to support MSMEs at the national level. The AUDA-NEPAD programme will pool African resources, capabilities, financing, market access and technology, to help achieve a continental response to MSMEs.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’) is the parent company of the Ecobank Group, the leading independent pan-African banking group. The Ecobank Group employs over 15,000 people and serves about 20 million customers in the consumer, commercial and corporate banking sectors across 33 African countries
