Rural Enterprise Programme disburses money to businesses

The Rural Enterprise Programme (REP) under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry has earmarked a six million dollar credit facility to support micro and small businesses in the country.

The facility, yet to be disbursed, would be done through the REP’s two credit lines - the Matching Grant Fund and Rural Enterprises Development Fund.

Mr Kwasi Attah-Antwi, National Coordinator of the REP, who said this, said 1.9 million dollars of the amount would be devoted to the Matching Grant Fund to assist about 7,000 businesses acquire production and processing equipment to grow their businesses.

He was speaking at the opening session of a five-day orientation workshop on REP credit activities for managers of Financial and Business Advisory Centers in Sunyani on Monday.

Mr Attah-Antwi explained that the remaining 4.1 million dollars of the amount would be disbursed to about 22,000 micro and small scale enterprises through the Rural Enterprises Development Fund, in the 161 participating districts of the country.

The fund is being administered through the ARB Apex Bank.

Mr Attah-Antwi urged the participants to take the workshop serious and partner with the REP to establish a permanent relationship with rural micro and small scale entrepreneurs, whose businesses had the potential to grow into large enterprises in future.

Mr Justice Samuel Adjei, Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, said about 90 per cent of companies registered with the Registrar General’s Department, are micro, small and medium scale enterprises, saying, they contributed about 49 per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product in 2012.

Mr Adjei emphasized that the government appreciated the crucial role of micro and small scale enterprises in the local economic development and the improvement of livelihoods for many rural Ghanaians.