Richard Nii Amarh Quaye.
Image: Supplied
The World Bank estimates that about 57% of Africa’s population lack a traditional bank account, translating to around 350 million adults. The main driver of this gap is due to high banking costs, lack of infrastructure and lack of financial literacy.
Richard Nii Amarh Quaye, one of Ghana’s enterprising and visionary leaders in the microfinance space, is on a mission to provide access to capital to empower Ghanaian and African SMEs. That mission was the catalyst that led to his foray into the microfinance sector.
As the President of RNAQ Holdings, Quaye oversees a diverse portfolio of businesses, with a clear vision: to scale African-led ventures across borders. In 2009, he founded Bills Micro Credit and led its transformation into a leading microfinance company in Ghana. Bills Micro Credit provides short-term working capital and financial services to individuals and small businesses across Ghana.
Over the past 16 years, Bills Micro Credit has disbursed billions of Ghana Cedis in loans and currently serves an active customer base of over 350,000. In 2023 and 2024 alone, it disbursed ₵3.2 billion ($326 million) in loans.
The company is supported by a workforce of more than 2,000 direct employees and is widely regarded as the leading microfinance company in Ghana, with the largest market share in the industry.
The firm is recognised as Ghana’s first institutionalised angel investor company. Since its founding, Quick Angels has invested over ₵500 million ($48 million) across more than 30 Ghanaian-owned businesses, collectively employing thousands of Ghanaians.
The portfolio includes notable brands such as CEQA Foods (Pizzaman and Chickenman), GoldCoast Foods (Sankofa Natural Spices), Ridge Medical Centre, Pinkberry (Ghana), Royalty QSR Ghana Ltd (Burger King), Bloomway Ltd (D33d3w Spices), Lynx Group Limited, Tigon Creative Studio, and COLI Link.
With his latest initiative, Scale Up Fund, Quaye is yet again putting his money where his passion is and betting on Africa’s budding young entrepreneurs with $30 million to help them grow their business. He shared with Fast Company the impact he intends to make.
I believe one of the biggest challenges for SME’s today is access to financial instruments to scale their business. I think it is very important to distinguish between growth and scale. When a company is in a growth stage, it needs more resources that are proportional to the increase in revenue. In other words, you cannot grow without incurring further costs to the business. Scale, on the other hand, relates to a situation where the company can increase its revenue significantly with no extra costs incurred. This is the stage where an established business has understood its value proposition and has captured a significant market share, therefore allowing it to achieve key economies of scale. We have identified these companies, and what we are saying is, we want to equip them with the resources to effectively take their business to the next level. I think that is one of the key challenges facing start-ups and SME’s. Through this initiative, we will also offer business support to these companies and ensure that we are building successful enterprises that can create more jobs to bolster the economy
The fund’s primary focus is on supporting ventures that have already proven their mettle, targeting those in their early or growth stages, rather than nascent ideas. This approach underscores a commitment to nurturing established businesses and fostering sustainable economic development. The Scale-Up Fund, which is a $30 million fund, offers a unique opportunity for Ghanaian entrepreneurs aged 20 to 45 who are already operating businesses and are ready to scale. The application process is now open at (www.rnaqholdingsglobal.com) with a pivotal chance for selected entrepreneurs to pitch their ventures directly to RNAQ in October. By focusing on existing businesses, the fund is positioned to drive job creation, stimulate innovation, and contribute to the overall prosperity of Ghana. This initiative reflects a deep understanding of the needs of the Ghanaian business ecosystem and a proactive approach to addressing them.
In my inaugural speech for the launch of RNAQ, I said, Like Martin Luther King, I also have a dream. My dream is about the young people of Ghana and is a call for a revolution. An economic and financial revolution. In my dream, I see a future where the young people of Ghana have woken up, joined forces together to bring our resources and skills together and seize the economic fortunes of our country. No man is an island, and I believe the only way we get there is together. I think private partnerships can be utilised to set up various financial instruments that can go a long way in helping SME’s achieve their goals. True visionary leadership means being the first to take the step to encourage others to follow, and that is what I believe we are doing with this fund.
Like Abraham Maslow, who placed food as a fundamental need in his Hierarchy of Needs, I believe all of us see access to food as a basic human right. Almost 800 million men, women and children will not have enough food to eat today. The Food Bank is a compassionate (free food) initiative designed to ensure no Ghanaian goes without a nutritious meal each day. I believe if you have food in your belly, you are then free to focus on the next need you have, which can be building a sustainable business for your community to thrive. The Food Bank Project will partner with local food retailers to establish accessible food distribution hubs across the country.
