Gov’t Disburses GH¢2m To Traders

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Category: NewsBrief

Created on Tuesday, 13 August 2013 00:00

Gov’t Disburses GH¢2m To Traders

Government has commenced the disbursement of GH¢2 million to over 7,000 traders, who were affected by the recent fire outbreaks that destroyed some markets in Accra and Kumasi.

The traders would use the money, which would be disbursed by Stanbic Bank, to revive their businesses.

It would range between GH¢200 and GH¢300 per person.

Traders, who do not have accounts with Stanbic Bank, have been urged to go to the Katamanto, Makola No. 2, Agbogbolshie and Kumasi Central Markets to register and open accounts to receive their monies.

The amount forms part of Government’s GH¢5 million Fire Intervention Fund.

Speaking at a ceremony to officially commence the distribution of the grant, Nana Oye Lithur, Minister for Gender, Children & Social Protection, said meetings were held with leaders and representatives of the affected persons in Accra and Kumasi and a survey was conducted to solicit information from affected traders.

“Contrary to earlier estimates of 4,500 persons, the total number of persons captured after the verification is a little over 7,381.”

The sector minister further noted that findings of the survey conducted prior to the disbursement of the funds revealed that 98.6 per cent of the affected traders had no form of insurance while 1.2 per cent had some personal and other forms of insurance, which did not cover fire and natural disasters.

34.4 per cent of the affected traders were unbanked.

Kevin Wingfield, Head of Personal and Business Banking at Stanbic Bank, said the financial institution cancelled the loans of 14 customers after the fire outbreak as part of measures to help the victims.

Each trader was also given GH¢1,000 as loan without any collateral.

Mr. Wingfield therefore encouraged the traders to cultivate the habit of saving money, adding that Stanbic Bank has a wide range of Small and Medium-scale (SME) products for traders.

Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, Major of Accra, said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), with a seed capital of GH¢25,000 from Melcom, would reconstruct markets gutted by the fire and rehabilitate existing ones.

Bright Kwarteng, a 50-year-old trader, a beneficiary of the Stanbic loan, commended the financial institution for the gesture and asked his colleagues to save with the bank.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana