Access Bank Plc and the International Trade Centre (ITC) have partnered to expand access to finance, market opportunities and business skills for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across 14 African countries.
The partnership, announced through Access Bank’s Access Africa Office, is designed to address challenges facing smaller businesses, including limited access to funding, difficulties entering new markets and gaps in the skills needed to compete and grow.
The programme will begin with a pilot in Ghana before extending across the participating markets, according to the bank’s announcement.
Fourteen African markets included
The countries covered by the initiative are Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
The collaboration combines the ITC’s expertise in trade development with Access Bank’s regional banking network and relationships with businesses.
The initiative is intended to help SMEs improve their access to finance and develop the capacity to reach more customers. Access to market information, business support and skills training can be particularly important for smaller firms seeking to move beyond local sales into cross-border trade.
For businesses operating across different African markets, expansion can be constrained by financing costs, complex trade procedures, limited distribution networks and insufficient knowledge of regulatory requirements. Programmes that address these barriers could help businesses become more competitive and broaden their customer base.
SMEs and Africa’s growth ambitions
Small and medium-sized businesses play an important role in employment and commercial activity across African economies. However, many struggle to obtain financing on terms that match their cash flows, growth plans and operating risks.
The Access Bank–ITC partnership is aimed at narrowing some of these gaps by combining financial-sector reach with trade-development support.
Its impact will depend on how the programme is implemented, the number of businesses reached, the financing and market opportunities made available, and the ability of participating SMEs to convert the support into sustainable growth.
The announcement does not set out a single total funding amount for the programme or a quantified target for the number of businesses expected to receive financing.
Pan-African banking strategy
The partnership also reflects Access Bank’s broader focus on building business links across African markets.
By helping SMEs connect with new customers and improve their readiness for trade, the programme could support commercial activity within and between participating countries.
For Access Bank, the initiative provides an opportunity to strengthen relationships with businesses that may require payment services, working capital, trade finance and other banking products as they expand.
The longer-term measure of success will be whether participating firms gain practical access to financing and new markets, rather than simply attending training or receiving advisory support.
