The winners of the 2022 Sales Champion Competition, a contest among banks taking part in the Financial Institution Resilience and Strengthening (FIRST+) initiative, were recognized for their excellent presentation of innovative attitudes and practices to expand lending to small companies.
The FIRST+ initiative is an industry-wide partnership between the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Microfinance Institution Network, and the Mastercard Foundation (GHAMFIN).
To promote lending to micro, small, and medium-sized firms (MSMEs) and provide jobs for 60,000 Ghanaians, mostly young women and men, the initiative intends to strengthen financial institutions.
The Sales Champion Challenge is a crucial part of FIRST+'s comprehensive sales and marketing reform program, which aims to boost financial institutions' lending to MSMEs and enable those companies to expand and prosper.
The Challenge is only one of several initiatives to spur systemic improvements that result in job creation by fostering small company expansion. The National Sales Champion award ceremony took place this month and was the culmination of the Sales Champion Competition, which lasted the previous three months.
The following people were named National Champions by CapPlus: Mr Emmanuel A. Kissi Yeboah of Best Point Savings and Loans came in third, followed by Mr Ernest Gyau of Sefwiman Rural Bank PLC and Mr Obed Asiamah of Ahantaman Rural Bank PLC.
Mr Thomas Kwame Piedu of Fiaseman Rural Bank PLC, Mr Samuel Nyarko of Mumuadu Rural Bank PLC, and Mr Joseph Kwasi Nyamekye of Akuapem Rural Bank PLC, who were declared sales champions at their respective institutions, also received awards.
According to Binyam Tadesse, CapPlus's Program Lead for the FIRST+ programme, "CapPlus and GHAMFIN have provided training and webinars on a variety of topics to over 600 financial institutions and 1,400 people through the FIRST+ programme to enable them to help small businesses in their communities grow and thrive." "Impressive has to be said about the bank trainees' excitement and dedication to studying. We can be certain that FIRST+ will have a long-term impact through the adoption of new processes and mentality changes in support of MSME financing since we have seen them transform learnt capabilities into genuine plans to boost lending.
By empowering small companies and enhancing their access to financing, FIRST+ catalyses the structural change required to hasten the creation of jobs. Via FIRST+, CapPlus tackles the fundamental issues that prevent By working together to alter mindsets, apply tried-and-true methodologies and practises, and customise services for women and other disadvantaged sectors, financial institutions may stop lending to MSMEs.
The Bank of Ghana acts as a member of the steering committee for FIRST+ and offers leadership and strategic direction on governance problems and program execution. The second deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi, urged participating FIRST+ financial institutions to take the necessary actions to expand MSMEs' access to financial services and products, particularly those owned by women, to promote economic growth and ensure the stability of Ghanaian jobs.
80 percent of all employment in Ghana is held by MSMEs, which make up 92 percent of the country's enterprises. The Mastercard Foundation is wholly devoted to job development.
for young people, particularly women. According to Rosy Fynn, Country Director at the Mastercard Foundation in Ghana, "when financial institutions provide financing to small businesses, those businesses create new jobs that youth and women can fill, they benefit current employees, and they strengthen local communities and the country as a whole by generating respectable work with stable incomes."
The FIRST+ course has aided in systematizing our processes, according to Mr. Obed Asiamah, first place winner from Ahantaman Rural Bank PLC. While we serve our consumers, we are now more intentional about how to make them feel cared for than ever before.
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