MASLOC to support value-production with GH¢68m

The Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) is to disburse GH¢68million in loans next year to support value-chain production activities in the agro-processing and fishing sectors.

The Centre between August 2010 and August 2012 disbursed approximately GH¢34million in microcredit facilities directly and indirectly to about 71,000 beneficiary groups and individuals.

Mrs. Bertha Ansah-Djan, Chief Executive Officer, told B&FT in an interview that the Centre will continue to provide microcredit facilities to small businesses, especially women, to accelerate employment creation and income generation.

“The Centre will vigorously pursue fish-farming activities to encourage farmers to set up hatcheries for the production and breeding of fingerlings. MASLOC will provide support to economic activities in the agro-processing sector to make them viable and sustainable,” she said.

“We have tackled almost all the areas we are supposed to: such as food crop production, agro-processing, poultry, livestock, fishing, and farming inputs. We have also supported the school-feeding programme by providing funds for the women who have been contracted to feed the children. This is better than them going elsewhere to get loans.”

She added: “We have also become a centre that government comes to when there is a disaster like a flood, and we go there to support victims.”

“MASLOC’s management has prudently managed the funds allocated to the Centre in 2012.
“We are almost through streamlining MASLOC, and it is now doing what it is intended to do; that is, helping more medium enterprises to get funds.”

The Centre mainly targets the productive poor and vulnerable in society -- including women, the physically-challenged and the youth who are engaged in micro- and small-scale businesses -- to reduce poverty and create employment and wealth.

Explaining the Centre’s recovery rate, Mrs. Ansah-Djan said: “The new management adopted a multi-faceted loan recovery and prudent approach to salvage the old loans -- which has yielded a 99.5 percent recovery rate. Management is committed toward sustaining the recovery efforts.”

She disclosed that its new scheme -- which seeks to partner a company that is ready to fund the cost of farm inputs, agro-processing machineries and sewing machines for hire purchase by qualified beneficiaries -- has yielded positive results.

MASLOC was created under the Office of the President with the objective of supporting government’s programme of sustainable poverty reduction as indicated in the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy. It provides micro-credit and small loans to the productive poor of the population.

MASLOC was introduced in 2004 by the previous government in conjunction with the World Bank, launching nine new regional offices by September 2006, with seed money of US$50million toward establishment of a Micro Credit Fund to provide capital for Ghana’s micro-finance initiatives.

Under the Scheme individuals, groups and businesses were eligible to apply for loans between GH¢100,000 and GH¢250,000.

Groups need to have a minimum of five and maximum of 25 members to access up to GH¢250,000.
Each member of the group can access GH¢10,000, refundable within one year with 10% interest.
Other categories who can access loans from GH¢20,000 to GH¢250,000 attract the going Bank of Ghana prime interest rate.