MICRO CREDIT SCHEME FOR TAMALE WOMEN (PAGE 11, NOV 3)

Three organisations have inaugurated a GH¢5,000 micro credit scheme to provide a revolving fund to support women at Fuu and Dalogyili, both suburbs of Tamale, to undertake income generating activities.
The organisations are Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), the Global Call for Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and the Realising Rights of the United States of America.
The beneficiary women who have formed two groups are the Gubkatimali Nangbanyini Association, located at Fuu, and the Sugru bor bene Women’s Association, located at Dalogyili on the Tamale-Janyili road.
At the initial stage, each of the groups, comprising between 20 and 40 women, would receive between GH¢50 and GH¢200 as loans to be paid over a six-month period.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony in Tamale, the Co-ordinator in charge of the Northern Sector Office of the CCG, Mr James Nahyi, explained that the women, who were mainly engaged in income generating activities such as rice cultivation, sheabutter and groundnut processing, were expected to pay back the loans at an interest rate of 0.5 per cent.
Mr Nahyi indicated that the project was being undertaken in line with the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 which, among other objectives, sought to promote gender equality and women empowerment.
According to him, in March 2009 the CCG signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Realising Rights of the USA to implement a micro credit project for women in deprived communities in Ghana.
He noted that the project would, among other objectives, empower women economically and increase their knowledge on the MDGs and other topical issues that affected their welfare and community.
The Co-ordinator said the Northern Region and for that matter Tamale, was chosen for the project because of the high maternal mortality rate and high illiteracy rate of the area.
“The CCG wishes to state that this project is among several projects carried out by the council over the past 80 years, as its contribution towards the development of the nation” he pointed out.
The Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina, commended the CCG and its partners for choosing women as the target group for the project, saying “women and children in most northern communities are confronted with serious poverty situations”.
He said women’s contribution towards the upkeep of families in many communities in the region was enormous, and therefore special initiatives needed to be provided for them to lessen their burden.
Mr Nayina reminded the two beneficiary groups to be good ambassadors of the project and abide by the tenets of the project to enable other women to benefit from it.