Invest in Africa (IIA), a not-for-profit organisation focused on growing local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across sub-Saharan Africa, has been selected by Tullow Ghana Limited to implement its recently launched Financial Readiness programme.

The Financial Readiness programme is an eight-month programme, launched in August 2021, with the goal of assisting suppliers in the oil and gas industry to build financially resilient and sustainable businesses for the future.

IIA will provide selected suppliers with financial tool kits that will enhance their interactions with lending institutions and offer 150 SMEs access to various funding options, as well as insights into financial restructuring opportunities.

Alongside hosting workshops, IIA will offer more tailored, one-to-one business advisory support to Tullow Ghana’s larger suppliers. These will be delivered on the back of a successful track record of similar interventions led by IIA.

Speaking on the potential impact of the programme, IIA Ghana’s Country Director Carol Annang said: “In many ways, the pandemic has reshaped how we conduct business. Its ramifications on financing for Ghanaian SMEs may be felt many years down the line, so even though this programme has a short-term outlook, its overall contribution to these SMEs will be much longer lasting. This is something both IIA and Tullow Ghana can appreciate, given our shared commitment to strengthening local supply chains.”

Wissam Al Monthiry, Managing Director of Tullow Ghana, on his part, said “As a company, the development of local capacity for participation in the oil and gas industry remains our priority. Central to developing local participation, is the ability of our local supply chain to remain financially resilient to continue participating in delivering oil and gas services to our operations. This Financial Readiness programme will add to our goal of ensuring a financially stable supplier base that is globally competitive”.