The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Growth Accelerator Liberia is expected to launch Cohort–IV of the Micro-Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
A statement said the launching will include the signing and renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with the International Bank Liberia Limited (IBLL), United Bank for Africa (UBA) Liberia, Bloom Bank Africa and Ecobank Liberia Ltd as investment partners to the programme.
Implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Accountability Lab (iCampus), the UNDP Growth Accelerator business development competition is entering its fourth year with support for post-revenue-generating businesses, expanding to cover agricultural cooperatives and forest-based enterprises.
This year, fifty-seven MSMEs in the categories of general, forest-based enterprises and agricultural cooperatives will be recruited and benefit from capacity building, coaching/mentorship and co-financing grants ranging from USD 10,000, USD 20,000, and USD 40,000.
The Growth Accelerator Liberia is designed to help post-revenue-generating small and medium-sized enterprises and commercially inclined agricultural cooperatives/forest-based enterprises to scale up their operations and contribute substantially to national economic development through increased revenues and job creation. As a result, two businesses from Cohort 2 have employed two persons with disabilities (PWDs) to create a livelihood.
Through this programme in 2023, UNDP invested approximately US$ 950,000 which together with the previous years’ investment, amounts to an investment of more than US$2.1 (Two million and one hundred thousand US dollars) that has benefited 38 small and medium-sized enterprises and agricultural cooperatives. In the same year, the programme attracted over 200 MSME applications from across 11 counties in Liberia.
Over the last three years, the programme has been instrumental in propelling local MSME’s and agricultural cooperatives towards their business objectives. It has built a strong network of mentors, experts and partners that contributed to the program’s success and the growth of the businesses.
The impact assessment has shown that businesses supported through this programme have experienced significant growth and sustainability.
