Standard Chartered's innovation and investment arm SC Ventures is launching a B2B online marketplace offering small firms in Ghana access to financing options.
SOLV Ghana will give micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to short-term invoicing financing, buy now pay later services, and business loans via a marketplace of verified buyers and sellers.
Ghana’s MSMEs account for 83% of people engaged in business and are responsible for 71% of business revenues in the country, but only account for 66% of the profits, according to a 2019 report from the World Bank.
SOLV Ghana aims to tackle this by providing a verified and secured digital marketplace relationship between MSMEs, their suppliers, and participating financial institutions, to offer pre-approved loan facilities to fund shortfalls between their cash flows and existing working capital required for restocking. SOLV Ghana also provides business support service.
SOLV first launched in India in December 2020 before arriving in Kenya in 2022. In 2022, it raised $40 million in funding to help it scale with an ambition to reach more than 300 cities in India, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Sam Kwaku Peprah, CEO, SOLV Ghana, says: “At SOLV, our mission is to empower MSMEs by providing them with innovative solutions that address their financial needs, streamline their operations, and foster sustainable growth.
“The SOLV Ghana platform has successfully onboarded 40 supply chain ecosystems linked to over 9000 MSMEs participating on the platform. The launch of our marketplace in Ghana marks a significant step towards realizing this vision, and we are eager to contribute to the national economic development agenda.”