Ghana - Program on Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA): Financing Climate Resilient Agricultural Practices in Ghana

This intervention relates to the Program on Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA): Ecobank Ghana Limited. It relates to a USD 20 million funding proposal from AfDB’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) administered resources. This proposal consists of : (i) USD 13.25 million senior Line of Credit (LoC) to Ecobank Ghana, (ii) USD 5.25 million Climate Technology Grant (CTG) and (iii) USD 1.5 million Technical Assistance (TA) from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), through the Bank acting as Accredited Entity (AE) for the AFAWA Program in Ghana. The program aims to provide below market rates loans in Ghanaian Cedis with a longer tenor to enhance rural women access to credit. The USD5.25 million grant financing will be used to provide, manage and coordinate the climate technologies for the most vulnerable women-led FarmerBased Associations (FBAs) and the USD1.5 million TA will support the effective implementation of Climate Resilient Agricultural (CRA) practices by women- led FBAs, Micro-, Small- and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and EGH staff along the agricultural value chain in the most vulnerable agroecological zone of Ghana. The program envisages to provide agricultural inputs such as solar pumps and efficient irrigation systems to address scarcity and variability of rainfall particularly during periods of drought. The program is a bold effort to significantly empower and leverage finance for women in Africa, especially in financing climate resilient measures through women entrepreneurship. It is expected to provide good outcomes for the agriculture sector in Ghana, including climate resilience agriculture practices and greater access to finance for women.