The government, through its Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP), has disbursed GHS4,371,615 to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Savannah Region.
This was revealed by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for West Gonja, Saeed Muhazu Jibril while addressing the 2020 Farmers’ Day awards ceremony in Damongo on Friday, November 6, 2020.
“A total number of 5,124 people applied in the Savannah Region. And of this number, the government has disbursed GHS4,371,615.”
The MCE also denied 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,” he stressed.
President Nana Akufo-Addo announced on Sunday, April 5, 2020, 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.”
The soft loan is intended to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the operations of SMEs.