REP is not meant for disbursement of loans - Officer

Gambaga (N/R), July 20, GNA - The Rural Enterprises Project (REP) was established to provide entrepreneurial training for small-scale businesses to expand their businesses and create employment for the youth in the rural areas and not to disburse loans. The project therefore only provides training for its clients on how to access loans from the banks and how to utilise such loans effectively.

Mr. Cletus Kayanwe, Business Development and Marketing Officer of the REP, said this at the launch of the REP and the signing of memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Project and the East Mamprusi District Assembly at Gambaga on Thursday. He however said that the banks would only provide them with the loans after accessing their businesses to find out if they were in a position to repay the loans.

He said the REP also taught its clients on how to establish, improve and manage relationships between them other stakeholders such as government agencies and NGOs.

Mr. Kwasi Attah-Antwi, Project Coordinator of the REP, said the East Mamprusi District was the last district in the Northern Region to be enrolled in the fourth year of the project implementation.

Mr. Attah-Antwi said with the enrolment of the East Mamprusi and Bole districts, the Northern Region now has a total of seven districts participating in the project since 2003. Other participating districts in the region are West Mamprusi, East Gonja, Zabzugu/Tatale, Central Gonja and West Gonja. He said the project services would be demand driven for the entire duration of the project in each district and there was no pre-determined budget for any participating district. "Therefore how much project resources get to the East Mamprusi District would depend entirely on the efforts of the District Assembly and all stakeholders in meeting the necessary conditions", Mr, Attah-Antwi said.

He said the mere presence of the REP in the district would not achieve much and therefore appealed to the assembly and project clients to show consistent demonstration of commitment during the project implementation.

Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister said in a speech read for him that the project and its activities fitted into the government's growth and poverty reduction strategy. He commended the REP for its role in marketing the region to the rest of the country through its annual clients' exhibition and trade shows.

Mr. Peter Wuni, East Mamprusi District Chief Executive, expressed the hope that the enrolment of the district into the REP would help stimulate economic activities and create employment avenues for the youth.