GIRSAL Assesses Ghana’s Fertilizer Subsidy Program: Stakeholders Validate Key Findings and Recommendations
GIRSAL, through its Agriculture Stakeholder Convening and Advocacy Platform (ASCAP), held a stakeholder validation workshop to substantiate findings from an assessment of the Fertilizer Subsidy Program (FSP) to ascertain the program’s effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. The ASCAP initiative launched last year aims to bring together government institutions, private sector participants (financial institutions, agribusinesses, farmer-based organizations) […]
GIRSAL Supports CALBank to Strengthen their Capability to Finance Agriculture Through an Agribusiness Unit
In a significant move to boost agricultural financing in Ghana, GIRSAL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CalBank PLC to strengthen the bank’s capability to handle and finance agricultural businesses, primarily by facilitating the establishment of an effective agribusiness unit dedicated to processing agricultural loan applications. This strategic partnership comes at an opportune […]
Strengthening Collaboration in Ghana’s Agricultural Sector: The Role of ASCAP
Agriculture remains an important pillar of Ghana’s economy, employing nearly half of the workforce and contributing about 20% to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Although growing at an annual average rate of about 5% over ten years (2012-2021), agriculture has the potential to contribute even more to Ghana’s socioeconomic standing given the nation’s rich […]
Reviving Ghana’s Fresh Chili Pepper Export Industry: Commercial Chili Production Trial Net Houses by GIRSAL and Partners
GIRSAL, USAID Ghana Trade and Investment Activity, VegPro Kenya, and other partners have initiated a pilot project to grow and export chili pepper using net house technology to meet the phytosanitary requirements of the EU market. This move is part of GIRSAL’s 5-year strategic plan to support export-related value chains such as vegetables, avocado, mango, […]
GIRSAL and Development Bank Ghana Sponsor Seven Ghanaian Bankers to Learn from Kenya’s VegPro Group
Agriculture plays a crucial role in Ghana’s economy, contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Despite its enormous growth potential, only 4% of bank loans are directed towards the sector. To tackle this challenge, Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agriculture Lending (GIRSAL) has set up a Technical Assistance Facility aimed at increasing financial […]
Empowering Financial Institutions for Successful Agriculture and Agribusiness Lending – 2023 Training Program Launched
GIRSAL, in partnership with the National Banking College, and Development Bank of Ghana, is proud to announce the 10th cohort of the GIRSAL Agriculture and Agribusiness Lending Course for Staff of Financial Institutions. The first training cohort of three planned for the year is scheduled to begin on February 13th at the National Banking College […]
GIRSAL’s Agricultural Credit Risk Guarantee Approved as Acceptable Collateral by Bank of Ghana
The Bank of Ghana has recently given the green light to GIRSAL’s Agricultural Credit Risk Guarantee (CRG) to be accepted as collateral for lending to agribusinesses. This decision, which was communicated through a letter from the central bank to GIRSAL on December 7th, 2022, was made possible due to GIRSAL’s success in de-risking agricultural financing […]
Financial Institutions and Experts Recognized for Outstanding Contributions to Agricultural Financing in 2022
GIRSAL has recognized and honoured the efforts of several financial institutions and technical experts in the field of agricultural financing. Awards were presented to three commercial banks and one non-bank financial institution that excelled in lending to agribusinesses in the year 2022. Two training facilitators were also awarded for their performance in GIRSAL’s Agric and […]
DBG Partners GIRSAL to Train Staff of Financial Institutions on Agric-Financing
Lending to the Ghanaian agricultural sector has generally been low, compared to other sectors. This has been attributed to the high risk associated with the sector, among other reasons. Interventions such as Ghana Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) ’s agricultural credit risk guarantee and technical assistance have been introduced to de-risk and […]
GIRSAL Advices Youth to Develop Good Business Proposals at JAK Foundation Youth in Agric Festival
The Deputy Chief Risk Officer, Mr. Ernest Tagbotor, joined the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation (JAK) panel discussion on “Innovative Agri-Financing, Marketing, Investment, Food Safety and Quality Standards, Regulations, Exports and Digitalization” at the maiden Youth in Agribusiness Festival in Kumasi on Thursday 28th July 2022. Also on the panel were other industry experts from the […]