MONROVIA – It was a room filled with optimism and sense of accomplishment when the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Commerce launched phase III of the Growth Accelerator project.

The Growth Accelerator Liberia is a business and agricultural cooperative accelerator, targeting impactful and innovative ventures and cooperatives in Liberia. It assists post-revenue businesses and cooperatives in scaling and growing with a combination of co-financing grants, mentorship, and technical assistance.

It is a UNDP and Government of Liberia initiative under the Livelihood and Employment Creation project implemented by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

As the third round of the competition kicks off, the UNDP plans to invest over a million dollars in a 15 successful businesses, agricultural cooperatives, and clean energy companies in 2023.

The phase III of the program was launched by the Minister of Commerce through Deputy Minister Wilfred Bangura and UNDP outgoing Country Representative, Stephen Rodrigues.

This year’s launch includes the Clean/Renewable Energy cohort, which will run concurrently with the regular MSMES and Agricultural Cooperatives cohorts.

Originally published in Front Page Africa 

Kibo Ngowi