A pilot programme designed to help Ghanaian green businesses access carbon credit markets has concluded with two companies receiving a combined €50,000 ($59,000) in catalytic funding, with efforts to unlock new sources of climate finance for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The “Unlocking Carbon Credit Opportunities for Gender-Smart Green SMEs Technical Assistance Facility,” implemented by the Catalist Initiative and Germany’s Agentur für Wirtschaft und Entwicklung (AWE) in partnership with GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation and ShEquity, ended last week in Accra with 10 gender-smart green SMEs pitching their businesses to an expert jury after months of technical support.
Dyson Energy and Gateway Feeds and Farms were selected as the winning enterprises, with each receiving €25,000 to advance their journey toward carbon certification.
The initiative sought to address one of the biggest challenges facing African green businesses, limited access to carbon markets, which are becoming an increasingly important source of global climate finance. Despite growing investor interest in carbon credits, many SMEs, particularly women-led businesses, lack the technical capacity and investment readiness needed to participate.
Participating businesses received support to better understand how carbon markets operate, assess the emissions reduction potential of their operations and identify opportunities to convert their climate impact into a new source of revenue through carbon credits.
The closing event brought together green SMEs from across Ghana alongside investors, development partners and other ecosystem stakeholders to strengthen connections between climate-focused businesses and potential sources of capital.
Carbon markets allow projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions to generate tradable carbon credits that can be sold to companies or organizations seeking to offset their emissions. For many African SMEs, however, the cost and complexity of certification have remained significant barriers to entry.
The pilot program forms part of broader efforts by development partners to expand African participation in carbon markets by building a pipeline of investment-ready businesses capable of attracting climate finance while contributing to environmental sustainability.
