PROCREDIT UPSCALING TO MESOFINANCE LAUNCHING CEREMONY– November 13th, 2009
On Friday, November 13th, 2009 in Accra, a new project to promote the development of “mesofinance” sector in Ghana will be officially launched by Edwige Takassi, the Managing Director of ProCredit Savings and Loans Company, His Excellency Mr Francis Hurtut, French Ambassador to Ghana and Mr. Benoit Lebeurre Resident Manager of Agence Française de Développement.
This project aims to contribute to the economic development and poverty reduction of the country by increasing access to small and medium enterprises, “mesoenterprises”, for financial resources. While a big attention has been so far paid to very small enterprises, traditionally called microenterprises, the small entrepreneurs, who are clients above the traditional microfinance zone and however still too small to receive adequate attention from traditional commercial banks, remain largely underserved although they have a crucial impact on the economic development both in terms of employment and economic growth.
Therefore, over a three year period and with the financial support of France, through Agence Française de Développement (AFD), in the form of a grant of 900,000 euros within the framework of the Trade Capacity Building Program (PRCC), ProCredit will develop the lending activity to mesoentrepreneurs.
The project will consist in supporting ProCredit by strengthening staff capacities and creating specialized desks dedicated to those small and medium enterprises. ProCredit will thus receive technical assistance to bring the best practices to SMEs lending and transfer this knowledge through coordination, intensive coaching of the key local staff and regular training sessions. In parallel, ProCredit plans to train at least 3 managers and more than 100 officers, including SMEs and agro loan officers, as well as specialized client relationship managers. The training will cover all key areas of banking and business development including social and environmental approach and communication methodology. As a pilot project, capitalizing on the good practices in the area of mesofinance and communication about this experience to a larger public will also represent key components of this project.
Development / Accra / Ghana / Africa / Modernghana.com