Asheshi and another receive funding to research into catalytic capital

The grant is to enable the two institutions conduct a research on why, where and how catalytic capital has been deployed in Ghana to drive the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). They are also to find out the positive and negative outcomes of the financing and what gaps still existed.

Established in 2019, C3 is an investment, learning, and market development initiative created and led by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Omidyar Network.

In a press release issued by Impact Investing Ghana, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms Amma Lartey, said the organisation had a strategic objective to mobilise catalytic funding to drive the growth of SMEs in Ghana and West Africa.

She said IIGh dealt in the kind of investment capital that intentionally strived towards building a more equitable and sustainable world, and it was willing to bridge the capital gaps left by conventional investing.

“This kind of capital has greater patience, risk tolerance, concessionality and flexibility which is essential for Ghana’s development.

“This research will enable us to learn what has worked well in the past and what has not to give us a firm foundation to do this effectively,” the CEO stated.

For his part, the Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Ashesi University, Dr Gordon Adomdza, said “In our part of the world, early-stage funding is very limited.

So, it makes a lot of sense to understand how to deploy catalytic capital that entertains concessionary returns and paves the way for early-stage investors to support young entrepreneurs.

“We at Ashesi are excited to be part of the Evidence-Based work stream of C3 Grantmaking programme to contribute to the understanding of this type of capital in our (entrepreneurship) ecosystem,” he stated.

Source: graphiconline