GHANA

 

Expanding Economic Opportunities through Microfinance

CHF is helping to expand economic opportunities in Ghana through Boafo Microfinance Services Ltd. Established in 2007, Boafo is a microfinance service company created through a partnership between HFC Bank Limited (Ghana) and CHF with funding support from USAID and the United Nations. This partnership combines Ghana's largest mortgage lender with CHF’s expertise in providing loans to low- and moderate-income individuals to help them expand businesses, purchase homes and pursue educational opportunities.

Boafo has provided more than a thousand loans valued at nearly $1.5 million to small businesses and home owners in Accra, Tema, and Kumasi and is in the process of expanding its geographic reach to meet the needs of more communities in Ghana.

Improving and Upgrading Slums

Through funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CHF is helping urban communities in Ghana and India to have a meaningful voice in the planning and implementation of slum improvement programs. The Slum Communities Achieving Livable Environments with Urban Partners (SCALE-UP) Program focuses on training and empowering residents and grassroots organizations to participate actively in designing and implementing physical and social improvement programs in partnership with local non-governmental organizations.

In Ghana, CHF International is working with six local organizations to improve access to credit and improve housing conditions for residents of nine targeted slums in Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi. In addition to providing access to affordable credit through Boafo Ltd.,,entrepreneurs receive demand-driven vocational training so that they can tailor their businesses to the growing Ghanaian economy.

An example of the activities being carried by CHF and its partner organizations include:
  • Establishment four new saving groups with nearly 500 memebers
  • Training of nearly 1,000 entrepreneurs in microenterprise development
  • Mobilization of youth groups to conduct a pilot waste collection project in partnership with a private trash collection company
  • Small scale infrastructure and water/sanitation improvements (paving of alleys, construction of latrines and establishment of water points)
  • Training of community representatives and organizations in planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of community projects

Expanding Access to Water and Sanitation

About 5.5 million people in Ghana – more than half the urban population – live in slum settlements. Due to the informal nature of these settlements, water supply and sanitation services in these areas are inadequate. Using a community-driven approach that involves residents and a broad range of stakeholders, CHF is helping to improve availability and access to water and sanitation services. With funding from USAID, CHF is working in three slum communities of Accra and two slum communities in the urban area of Sekondi-Takoradi where SCALE-UP is already implementing activities.

Engaging Youth

In conjunction with SCALE-UP and CHF’s ongoing efforts to improve the sanitation situation in Ghanaian communities, CHF has also launched the Youth Engagement in Service Delivery (YES) program. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the YES program builds the capacity of local youth organizations and trains youth for employment in the solid waste sector. The program also focuses on building the capacity and life skills of youth with training in savings and financial literacy, basic business and employability skills.

To learn more, please visit the CHF Ghana website or download the Ghana Fact Sheet.