Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans, a non-banking financial institution in Ghana has in one month bagged three awards - two local and one international awards.

The company is convinced the awards are testimonies to its role in the fight against poverty and also promoting the empowerment of women through various projects, as well as improvement in sanitation and hygiene practices in the country.

On the international front, Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans was adjudged the “Best Bank for Women Entrepreneurs” (Gold category) at the Global Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Finance Forum 2020 held in Washington DC, in the US and created by the G20, World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

This forum featured 2,500 participants from 149 countries with over 950 Financial Technology (Fintechs) and Financial Institutions across the globe.

The Global SME Finance Awards celebrates the outstanding achievement of financial institutions and Fintech companies in delivering exceptional products and services to their SME clients and helping them grow.

Mr. Matthew Gamser, Chief Executive Officer, SME Finance Forum said “We hope the winners of the global awards will inspire SME financiers all over the world to learn from their good practices”.

He said the awards provided the winners the opportunity to showcase good practices on the global stage and to foster learning amongst their peers.

Local Awards
Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans, for the second time in two years also picked two awards during the recently ended Sustainability and Social Investment awards held in Accra.

The two awards are the “Best Company in Projects Promoting Good Sanitation & Hygiene Practices” and “Best Company In Promoting Gender Equality” categories.

The awards night also saw several multinational, local SME’s, non-governmental organizations, private and public sector institutions being honoured for their passion and drive towards pushing the nation’s economy forward as well as creating jobs, strengthening the local economy among other reasons.

Address
Speaking on the night, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant stated that whilst the world is faced with the daunting task of rebooting economies post-pandemic, he was optimistic about development on the African continent as it remained the world’s “next big opportunity” due to a combination of factors including demographic distribution, natural resources and the continent-wide trade bloc.

Addressing the need for conscious inter-party collaborations moving forward, he said: “No country is going to be able to withstand the world that is coming on its own, we all have to do it together. I am so delighted that this evening we are awarding those that foresaw the future and stepped up to look at sustainability as part of their plans.”
Background
Established in 1994, Sinapi Aba offers a wide range of both financial and non-financial services to over 400,000 clients of which 80 per cent are women, and is driven by the vision of working for all people to have the dignity of providing for themselves, their families, their churches and communities.