BRIDGE-in Agriculture initiative to boost youth employment
By Solomon Tetteh Nartey
The MasterCard Foundation, in partnership with CrossBoundary Advisory, has officially launched the BRIDGE-in Agriculture program in Ghana—an initiative aimed at transforming the agricultural sector by creating dignified and fulfilling employment opportunities for young people, particularly women.
At the launch, Program Lead and Managing Director of CrossBoundary Advisory, Fanta Conde, described BRIDGE-in Agriculture as a flagship initiative designed to tackle the structural and financial challenges hindering growth in agriculture and its adjacent sectors.
She explained that the program, developed in 2023, was a response to the sector’s significant financing gap—with only 10 percent of an estimated USD 2 billion demand for agricultural financing being met, often at prohibitively high interest rates averaging 35 percent.
The BRIDGE-in Agriculture initiative—an acronym for Building Resilience and Investing in the Development and Growth of Entrepreneurs in Agriculture—targets five key areas: access to affordable capital, capacity building for financial institutions, support for SMEs, youth and women training, and ecosystem development.
In partnership with CrossBoundary Advisory and a consortium of 10 institutions, including six banks—Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First National Bank, Ecobank, Stanbic Bank, and Zenith Bank—the program delivers zero-interest repayable grants to financial institutions. These funds are then on-lent to agriculture-focused SMEs at a capped rate of 7 percent, with embedded guarantees and support to offset the unique risks of the sector.
Ms. Conde stressed that this financial structure was designed to encourage banks to lend to underserved populations.
“This is not just a funding mechanism; it’s a bold bet on the future of young people and agriculture in Ghana,” she said.
In its first pilot year, the program disbursed loans totaling GHS 11.6 million to 72 SMEs, trained over 22,000 young people, and provided USD 87,000 in grants to emerging entrepreneurs. These efforts have already impacted 86,000 youth across the country—59 percent of whom are women—with 149 persons with disabilities also benefiting.
Notably, 58 percent of loan recipients were first-time borrowers, and 65 percent received loans below USD 50,000, a range often deemed high-risk by traditional financial standards. Additionally, 32 percent of supported businesses are women-led, marking a significant shift toward gender inclusion in the sector.
Ms. Conde noted that these changes are not only measurable but also sustainable: “Some of these shifts are systemic and will outlast the life of this program.”
The BRIDGE-in Agriculture initiative also focuses on vocational and digital training for youth, preparing them for employment and entrepreneurship. Graduates are supported to secure meaningful jobs or start businesses, with access to follow-on grants. The program aims to impact 400,000 young people by its conclusion, with 70 percent expected to be women and 5 percent persons with disabilities. Of this target, 200,000 will be farmers, 120,000 will see their work sustained or improved, 60,000 will undergo training, and 20,000 new work opportunities will be created.
