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 $ 6 million-credit facility to support micro and small businesses in the country.

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

The National Coordinator of the REP, Mr Kwasi Attah-Antwi, who said this, said $1.9 million of the amount would be devoted to the Matching Grant Fund to assist about 7,000 businesses to 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 Centres in Sunyani on Monday.   

Mr Attah-Antwi explained that the remaining $ 4.1 million 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, a Ghana News Agency report has said.

Mr Attah-Antwi urged the participants to take the workshop seriously and partner  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.

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

Mr Adjei emphasised 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.