Government has disbursed GHS4, 371,615 to SMEs in the Savannah Region- West Gonja MCE

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for West Gonja, Saeed Muhazu Jibril, has revealed that government has disbursed GHS4, 371,615 to Small Medium Enterprises in the Savannah Region to aid them in their operations.

Through the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP), he noted disbursement was done in an impartial way to ensure no one is disadvantaged in the process.

Addressing the 2020 Farmers’ Day awards ceremony in Damongo, Mr. Jibril intimated that the transparency in the disbursement of the funds has prevented some “cronies” from laying hold of the stimulus package.

“A total number of 5,124 people applied in the Savannah Region. And of this number, the government has disbursed GHS4, 371,615.”

Mr. Jibril also debunked claims that the COVID-19 relief fund being distributed by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), is being done along partisan lines.

“Applications were done online, there was no discrimination. It was non-partisan. Even for those close to me, only one out of those who applied got it. If it was dictated by the powers that be, then all my cronies would have received some.”

“Let us get this straight. The disbursement is being done on non-partisan lines”.

President Nana Akufo-Addo in the month of April, announced that the government has put in place a GHS600 million soft loan scheme for micro, small, and medium scale businesses.

“Government, in collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Business & Trade Associations and selected Commercial and Rural Banks, will roll out a soft loan scheme up to a total of six hundred million cedis (GHS600 million), which will have a one-year moratorium and two-year repayment period for micro, small and medium scale businesses.”

On October 5, 2020, the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mrs. Elizabeth Sackey revealed that, about 110,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) owned by women have benefited from the special fund set up by the government to cushion small and medium-scale businesses from the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit 2020, in Accra, she was of the opinion that, the data reflected about 110,000 women-led and women-owned MSMEs had received assistance from the CAP BuSS programme.

“Again, we are reliably informed that the recent NBSSI and the MasterCard Foundation programme on assisting resilient MSMEs is also positively biased towards women.

“It is expected that about 70 per cent of all beneficiary MSMEs should be female-owned and female-led. I am convinced that such a strategy is the surest way for post COVID-19 economic recovery”.

According to her, the summit sought to ignite the passion of entrepreneurship in the hearts of women and charge them on to undertake greater works.

“GWES 2020 seeks to strengthen the contribution of women to Ghana’s economy, assess the policies and programmes of government from a female perspective and create sustainable networks that can draw resources to women entrepreneurs, advocate a change in negative social norms that impede the progress of women, and highlight digitization to promote the advancement of female enterprises.