The Ghana Investment Support Programme (GhISP) has launched a free Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Toolkit to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) improve their business practices, attract investors and meet investment requirements.
The toolkit is also designed to support fund managers, transaction advisors and ESG specialists in assessing businesses and identifying areas that need improvement.
As investors increasingly consider environmental, social and governance factors before making investment decisions, many Ghanaian SMEs face challenges in understanding and meeting these requirements.
For some businesses, the cost of hiring ESG consultants and specialists makes it even more difficult to put the necessary systems in place.
The new toolkit seeks to address these challenges by providing businesses with practical resources to assess their ESG performance, identify gaps and take steps to improve.
Helping SMEs Become Investment-Ready
ESG refers to the environmental, social and governance practices businesses adopt to manage risks, operate responsibly and build long-term sustainability.
These practices have become increasingly important in investment decisions, as investors seek to understand how companies manage environmental risks, treat employees and communities, and maintain effective governance structures.
The GhISP ESG Toolkit provides a starting point for SMEs to assess their performance and understand what investors expect.
It also allows fund managers to evaluate potential investment opportunities, while helping transaction advisors and ESG specialists deliver more consistent and effective support to businesses.
Commenting on the initiative, Kyerewaa Osei Mensah, Environmental, Social and Impact Manager at GIP Ghana, described the toolkit as simple and practical.
“I love this tool! It’s one of the simplest, most structured, and practical ESG self-assessment tools I’ve come across. I will definitely use this to assess the ESG maturity levels for our pipeline companies going forward,” she said.
Three Tools to Improve ESG Performance
The toolkit contains three main resources designed to help businesses assess their ESG practices and develop improvement plans.
The first is the Online ESG Health Check, a user-friendly self-assessment platform that guides businesses through seven key ESG areas.
It generates individual action plans for each area and calculates an overall ESG maturity score, helping businesses understand their strengths and areas that need attention.
The online assessment is particularly useful for SMEs that are new to ESG requirements.
The second resource is the Excel ESG Health Check Tool, which provides a more detailed assessment of the same seven areas.
It calculates individual scores, generates an overall ESG maturity rating and develops a tailored roadmap to help businesses meet relevant requirements.
Unlike the online version, the Excel tool can be used offline and updated regularly as businesses implement recommended improvements.
It is particularly suitable for SMEs with some ESG experience, fund managers and transaction advisors.
The third resource is the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) Manual, which provides guidance on establishing systems to manage environmental and social risks.
The manual outlines the governance structures, policies, procedures, responsibilities and reporting arrangements businesses need to implement and monitor ESG improvements.
Together, the three resources help businesses identify weaknesses, develop action plans and establish systems to address them.
Free Access to ESG Resources
GhISP has made the toolkit available free of charge through its website, allowing SMEs, fund managers and advisors to access the resources without the cost of external consultancy services.
Businesses can access the resources through the following links:
- Online ESG Health Check: https://ghisp.org/esg-health-check
- Excel ESG Health Check Tool: https://ghisp.org/esg-health-check-tool-download
- ESMS Manual Template: https://ghisp.org/esms-manual-word-download
The initiative is expected to help Ghanaian SMEs strengthen their business operations, improve compliance with ESG requirements and become better prepared to attract investment.
By combining practical assessments with guidance on implementing improvements, the toolkit offers businesses a structured approach to building more responsible, sustainable and investment-ready operations.
