More than GH¢144,000 have so far been disbursed to over 2,400 women groups and individuals under government’s micro-finance credit facility in the Adansi North District in Ashanti Region.

Mr Peter Kwabena Ameyaw, the District Chief Executive, who announced this at an educational forum at Fomena at the weekend, said the Adansi Rural Bank disbursed the funds to the women groups.

He said the Social Investment Fund (SIF) had also supported women and men groups to the tune of GH¢30,000 in addition to a GH¢33,420 from the Senior Minister’s HIPC Fund.

Other funds, which the women had benefited from in the area, Mr Ameyaw said, included the Women Development Fund, Special Farmers Assistance (SFA) and Village Infrastructure Project (VIP).

The DCE said most businesses in the district did not have adequate management and entrepreneurship skills and therefore were not able to take advantage of the new and existing credit opportunities.

He said the District Assembly had identified these challenges to the private sector and had positioned itself to support the sector under the Rural Enterprise Project (REP).

Mr Ameyaw said the overall goal of the REP was to alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of rural folks, increase the incomes of women and vulnerable groups through increased self and wage employment.

He added: “The immediate objective of the Project is to create a competitive rural micro and small-scale enterprise sector in our district, which is supported by relevant, good, easily accessible and sustainable services”.

Mr Ameyaw said already 10 males and 49 females had benefited from two Community-Based Training (CBT) programmes in soap-making, baking and confectionery as part of activities to help the district achieve its objective under the Project.


Source: GNA