RDF Ghana promotes access to finance for Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in the business of agriculture and/or renewable energy, especially women-owned businesses.

We spoke to Yaw Oppong, CEO at RDF Ghana about their origins, impact, gaps and opportunities they see in the field, how they see their activities evolving in the future, and much more.

Please tell us about the origins of RDF Ghana and what market failures you were set up to solve.

RDF Ghana is an impact-driven institution, founded in 2016 by the Government of Ghana and Impact Fund Denmark. The creation of RDF Ghana was driven by the need to address the limited access to affordable credit for MSMEs in the agriculture and renewable energy sectors. RDF Ghana was also established to strengthen the capacity of Partner Financial Institutions (PFIs) and value chain actors, addressing constraints that have limited effective credit utilization. With seed funding from the Danish Government, we began as a wholesale fund channeling capital through PFIs, particularly rural banks, to underserved markets. We have since evolved into a dynamic institution also providing direct financing and capacity-building to smallholder farmers organized as outgrower businesses and Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). Our work systematically de-risks investments, builds climate resilience, and enhances the economic empowerment of women and youth.

Describe your guarantee, line of credit, and technical assistance business. How do these offerings work together? What kinds of businesses / financial institutions do you typically partner with, and how does this help unlock additional private capital?

Credit Delivery - Direct and Indirect Financing RDF Ghana ensures capital reaches smallholder farmers through direct and indirect channels. We provide wholesale lines of credit to PFIs, mainly rural banks. We also offer direct input financing, which targets smallholder farmers organized into Outgrower Schemes and VSLAs, ensuring timely access to inputs and market linkages.

De-risking With Credit Guarantees Our guarantee facility uses a 50% risk-sharing model (portfolio guarantee) to incentivize PFIs to increase lending to agriculture. This approach effectively unlocks capital for underserved borrowers by mitigating agricultural lending risks.

Capacity-Building Through Technical Assistance Our Technical Assistance (TA) programs are designed to empower women and youth, strengthen the capacities of both farmers and financial institutions, and enhance environmental sustainability. Our flagship programs include:

• RDF Executive Management Essentials for RCBs (REMERB): Delivered with the National Banking College, this program closes critical knowledge gaps in corporate governance, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards, risk management, and capital management, solely for rural banks.
• Agro Woman 360 (AW360): Holistically empowers rural women smallholder farmers through financial literacy, alternative livelihoods, and climate resilience training.
• Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM): Promotes climate-smart agriculture by training farmers in input-use efficiency and sustainable soil health practices.

What would you say has been the impact of your work within the Ghanaian financial ecosystem? Feel free to share relevant examples that demonstrate the catalytic impact of our work.

Our commitment to serving smallholder farmers has played a transformative role in strengthening rural finance and deepening Ghana’s financial ecosystem. Leveraging partnerships with PFIs and agricultural facilitators, we have deployed approximately $11 million in loans and technical assistance. These reached 30,000+ beneficiaries, including 60% women and 79% smallholder farmers. Our intervention has incentivized agriculture lending, built stronger institutions, created jobs, and scalable market opportunities:
Unlocking Capital: Our 50% portfolio guarantee to PFIs like ABSA Bank Ghana, Kwahu Praso Rural Bank, and Agave Rural Bank have directly mitigated their risk, enabling them to collectively increase their agricultural loan portfolio. For every $1 that RDF has deployed in guarantees, we have mobilized $2.50 in private capital from our PFIs. For example, Kwahu Praso Rural Bank has increased its agriculture loan portfolio by over 50% since partnering in 2024.
Strong Institutions: PFIs that completed our ‘REMERB’ governance training have strengthened their risk management frameworks and are better equipped to serve rural clients.
Job Creation: While we directly reached 30,000+ beneficiaries, our interventions have supported an estimated 113,526 jobs, significantly demonstrating a catalytic effect on rural employment and livelihoods.
Scalable Models: A strategic partnership with USAID served as a critical proof-of-concept for our transformative integrated outgrower model. What began as a pilot project with VSLAs has evolved into a scalable Outgrower Loan Scheme providing market linkages, weather insurance, and tailored financing to the smallholder farmers.

Additional positive tangible outcomes from our 2020–2024 strategic period include the following:

• 81.2% of MSMEs including agribusinesses reported higher incomes, driven by yield improvements ranging from 26% to 50%.
• Among farmers, nearly 60% achieved yield gains exceeding 50%, contributing to a 57% increase in average weekly produce sales.

Does RDF Ghana apply a gender lens when it comes to its blended finance activities? If yes, could you shed some light on how this is accomplished (metrics tracked and indicators)?

Gender inclusion is core to our operations and is systematically integrated into the design and delivery of all our interventions. This commitment is reflected in our reach, as women account for over 60% of all RDF interventions, including 76% of TA recipients and 53% of loan beneficiaries. Building on this foundation, our flagship initiative Agro Woman 360 empowers women smallholder farmers through group structures and VSLAs. By strengthening financial literacy, business acumen, and climate resilience, the program has enabled over 50% of participating women to gain greater influence and respect within their families and communities. These efforts reinforce our mission to promote inclusive growth, reduce poverty, and build resilient livelihoods across our target communities.

Tailored Financial Solutions: Recognizing that one size does not fit all, we design context-specific solutions. In Northern Ghana, for example, where women dominate the shea, soya, and groundnut value chains, we introduced tailored credit facilities for Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). This directly expands finance access and strategically strengthens women's pivotal role in these critical agricultural value chains.

Rigorous Measurement and Global Alignment: Our approach is guided by clear metrics and global standards, including alignment with SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and the 2X Challenge Criteria. We track key performance indicators such as share of women beneficiaries across products and services, land ownership and control, and economic empowerment and decision-making power. These interventions not only promote inclusion but also serve as a powerful catalyst that enhances productivity, builds community-wide resilience, and drives systemic change within rural economies.

As an impact-driven institution in the agriculture and renewable energy space in Ghana, what gaps/opportunities do you see in the Ghanaian financial ecosystem that blended finance can help unlock?

Despite the progress made, agriculture and renewable energy remain underfinanced in Ghana, with high perceived risks. RDF has demonstrated that by strategically integrating capital and TA, we can prove the commercial viability of these underserved markets. We see four priority areas where blended finance can unlock transformative opportunities:
Expand Access to Finance: A critical void exists for smallholder farmers lacking access to financing due to their small size, lack of track record, or collateral. An opportunity exists for blended finance to provide first-loss capital to de-risk the investments for impact investors. This would unlock capital to scale and create formal market linkages for many smallholder farmers. Expanding credit guarantee schemes will also encourage greater lending to these underserved sectors.
Renewable Energy Transitions: A significant gap remains in financing renewable energy for productive use in agriculture (e.g., solar solutions for irrigation, milling, drying, storage). Grants or concessional capital can cover the high upfront costs and provide TA to de-risk the technology for both provider and end-user, which could ultimately unlock commercial debt and equity.
Climate Adaptation Tools: There is an increasing demand for agricultural insurance, solar-powered irrigation, and climate-smart inputs. Blended finance can accelerate adaptation by providing lower-cost, longer-term capital and grants.
Data and Digital Infrastructure: Targeted blended finance solutions can address structural weaknesses in agricultural financing, particularly the lack of reliable data, which leads to high-risk premiums. Using catalytic grants to support the development of integrated agricultural platforms could attract commercial lenders into the space.

What does the future look like for RDF Ghana? How will your strategy and interventions evolve going forward? What role do you see yourself playing to help increase financing flows to the agriculture sector, which comparatively remains underserved? Transformative changes in rural economies require strong strategic collaboration. Going forward, we are looking to foster partnerships with like-minded investors, development partners, and private sector actors. Through these partnerships, we would amplify our collective impact, crowd in significant private investment, and drive the systemic changes needed to empower rural communities. Our collaborative efforts will concentrate on three strategic pillars:
Build Resilient and Integrated Value Chains: By integrating financing with targeted TA, we will strategically partner with agriculture actors, input suppliers, and off-takers to create viable models that de-risk the entire chain, ensuring access to quality inputs, training, and guaranteed markets.
Unlock Institutional Capital: We will position ourselves as a trusted intermediary that can bundle smaller, risky agricultural loans into larger, more structured investment opportunities for institutional investors who seek impact and return, but lack the capacity to deal with fragmented, small-ticket transactions.
Champion Climate-Smart and Inclusive Finance: We are committed to embedding climate resilience and gender inclusion at the heart of rural finance. We are looking to achieve this by:

• Scaling Proven Practices – Expanding our Integrated Soil and Fertility Management (ISFM) program to promote sustainable land use.
• Minimizing Climate Shocks – Broadening access to affordable agricultural insurance for smallholders.
• Advancing Gender Inclusion – Intensifying our targeted interventions to increase the economic participation of women and youth.
• Solar-Powered Agriculture – Focusing on solar-powered solutions for irrigation and other productive agriculture uses.