Obuasi (Ash), Dec. 7, GNA – Some 100 small scale businesswomen at Obuasi in the Ashanti Region have been provided with interest free loans to support their businesses.
Each received GHC1,000.00, which was a gesture from the Appianin-Bonsec Fun Club, a social group based in the area, as part of its women empowerment programme.
Conceived in May 2022, the club is an initiative by two businessmen in Obuasi – Messrs. Joseph Bonsu and Kofi Appianin Ennin, as part of efforts to find solutions to the worrying unemployment situation in the town.
Kofi Appianin Ennin, the Club President, speaking at the presentation ceremony said the women were expected to pay the loan within five months.
“As a group, we understand the challenges our women go through and judging from their role in the home, we decided to provide them with this interest free loans to cushion them,” he said.
The disbursement comes on the heels of a recent loan the Club offered to some 50 women in Obuasi, who were able to repay within the stipulated period.
That, Mr Ennin said, motivated the Club to come up with the second tranche.
He said the role of women in the family could not be discounted, hence the need to support them to grow and expand their businesses to contribute significantly to the upkeep of the home.
He charged residents of Obuasi to beat down on their expectations on AngloGold Ashanti saying there was the need to focus on diversifying the economy through other means other than the Obuasi Mine.
The beneficiaries commended the Club for prioritising their needs and survival.
Madam Martha Frimpong, a beneficiary from Binsere and a member of the Club, said the loan would go a long way to support their businesses.
She said the payback conditions were flexible enough to make them repay and concentrate on making profits.
Mrs Victoria Owusu of Kunka, on her part, bemoaned the overreliance on AngloGold Ashanti for development and that the only way to diversify Obuasi was to empower residents economically “and this is what the Appianin-Bonsec is seeking to do.”
GNA
KOM/KOA/ABD
7 Dec. 2023
