THE Koforidua area office of the Micro-finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) has presented withdrawal slips to 210 beneficiary groups within the area to enable them access money credited to them from the various designated banks.
The groups comprised 3,625 individual traders, artisans and other operators of small- scale businesses from all the 17 districts in the region.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the MASLOC, Mr Lawrence Prempeh, together with the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, and other municipal and district chief executives (MDCEs) in the region, made the presentation at a ceremony in Koforidua.
The event coincided with the re-launch of the facility in the region.
Mr Prempeh said between October, 2007 and April, this year, his outfit disbursed a total of GH¢1.3 million to the beneficiaries of the facility.
He explained that the government introduced the scheme to make available credit facilities to the various groups of associations, as well as individual operators of small-scale businesses to undertake various income-generating ventures to raise their standards of living.
Mr Prempeh advised the beneficiaries to invest the money in productive ventures which would enable them to pay back the loans promptly for others to also enjoy the benefits of the scheme.
The CEO urged the people not to associate the scheme with any political party, since the facility was meant for all Ghanaians, irrespective of their political affiliation.
He called on other people to take advantage of the facility to enhance their living standard.
To ensure prompt access to more loans from other financial institutions, Mr Prempeh asked the beneficiaries to save with the various banks which would be willing to provide them with loans.
According to him, as part of measures to ensure successful implementation of the scheme and prompt repayment of loans, his outfit had engaged the services of a number of field officers across the country to identify, monitor and assess the performance of the beneficiaries.
For his part, Mr Affram Asiedu reiterated the government’s commitment to the creation of an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, so that they would be able to contribute their quota towards national development.
He said as a measure for assisting the extremely poor households and individuals in the country, the government had also introduced the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), of which some of the poor in the region had started benefiting.
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