[ad_1]
Business News of Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Source: Graphic.com.gh
File photo
A retired educationist, Mrs Patience Ayele Ayesu, has called on the Bank of Ghana to set up a separate bank or body to regulate the activities of microfinance companies in the country.
She said microfinance companies played a very important role in the socio-economic development of the country so all efforts must be made to assist them in their operations.
Speaking at the fifth anniversary celebrations of Delta Microfinance in Accra yesterday, she urged the media to be circumspect in their report of the activities of microfinance companies in order not to create panic among their clients and the general public.
Mrs Ayesu noted that rural and community banks had a parent company, the Apex Bank, which regulated and controlled all their activities, and which could also supported them when necessary.
Microfinance
Mrs Ayesu said a number of microfinance companies were in distress due to a directive by the BoG for them to cease operations. This had created panic, chaos and loss of trust in microfinance companies in the country.
“I believe the time has come for microfinance companies to have a regulatory body to assist them during difficult times,” she stressed.
She advised microfinance companies to learn lessons from the failure of similar companies to enable them to offer the best services to their clients.
The General Manager of Delta Microfinance, Mr Abu Roger Akanyele, complained that society had a wrong perception about microfinance organisations these days, which had seriously affected their business.
Biggest challenge
He said this was the biggest challenge that the company had to contend with, aside from non-payment of loans by clients.
Mr Akanyele, however, encouraged potential customers not to shy away from doing business with the company because “we are different.”
He added that the future of the company looked bright because they were poised to make strides in the financial sector of Ghana and had learned lessons from the failure of other microfinance companies.
“In the next 10 years, we see ourselves as a major bank in the country,” he said.
Mr Akanyele disclosed that the main products of the company were investments and loans, which were primarily designed for small and medium-scale enterprise (SMES) that were currently not catered for by the traditional banks.
[ad_2]