BY ADAMA CONTEH
232NEWS, KAMBIA
The implementing partner for the Post Ebola Recovery Social Investment Fund (PERSIF) Micro-Finance Loan Scheme, A Call to Business (ACTB) alongside the Ministry of Social Welfare have launched the start of the loan disbursement scheme to communities in Kambia for the northern region of Sierra Leone.
The scheme which will start along the border lines of Sierra Leone was launched on Wednesday 11th October 2023 at the Edson’s Memorial Hall, Kambia.
The African Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Sierra Leone first launched the project to support 3,000 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) survivors and orphans, and other vulnerable sectors of society in Sierra Leone. ADB provided $13.5 million in grants from the African Development Fund and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative Trust Fund.
The mini launch was first held in Port Loko and Kono Districts respectively by the Ministry.
Giving an overview of the project and delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Social Welfare Ministry, the Permanent Secretary, PERSIF Project Coordinator, Abdul Karim Kanu, explained that the projected was initiated in 2015 but was not implemented as scheduled, not until 2019 when it was reinstated following a number of engagements between the Government of Sierra Leone and the African Development Bank (ADB).
The coordinator threw lights on the two main components of the PERSIF Project:
Restoration of Basic Social Services, and Revival of Local Economic Livelihoods and Job Creation, and laid emphasis on the micro-finance sub-component of component 2 which seeks to develop the productive capacity of the poor, particularly women in the target communities and deliver start-up micro-credits for small businesses.
The PERSIF Project Coordinator disclosed that the project has built the technical, management and organizational capacities of eleven thousand (11,000) northern, northwestern and eastern regional residents constituting female cross-border and micro and small-scale entrepreneurs who were adversely affected by the Ebola outbreak, and existing government cash transfer beneficiaries.
“Added to this was the disbursement of grants to 1617 Vulnerable Persons and 500 Trade Groups in six (6) districts, namely Bombali, Falaba, Port Loko, Kono, Kenema and Kono,” he said.
He encouraged the Kambia people to take advantage of the loan, adding that if the business grows, they can do everything they want to with the profit.
He reminded them that the loan scheme is not political and that if things go wrong, it is the micro-finance institution the ministry will target in line with contractual provisions. He advised them not to allow bad people and bad influence make them face the law.
ACTB Chief Operating Officer (COO), Idrissa Alie Sesay gave a brief profile of ACTB and described it as one of the biggest micro-finance institutions in Sierra Leone with12 branches across the length and breadth of the country.
He disclosed that ACTB started in 2006 with 2 people and today has hundred thousand more than two (200,000) people in their loan books. He furthered that the project entrusted ACTB the disbursement of the grants and loans responsibility because of its track record.
The ACTB COO stressed the importance of the 5% interest in the loan compared to other institutions that asked for more than 20%, and called on potential beneficiaries to embrace the opportunity.
He explained that ACTB has a loan criteria, screening methodology and process which people should go through to benefit from the loans. He also made it very clear that the people ACTB is loaning must have the capacity to pay back. He concluded by revealing that the next mini launching will take place in Kailahun District.
Presenting the loan criteria to the audience, Isata Bangura, Credit Manager of ACTB said the criteria cover: wiliness to pay, business capacity to carry the loan, and the capital to start a business. She went further to state that potential loanees should have means of communication; a business place, to avoid falsification, and a form of business identification.
Dr. Nabieu Yayah Yillah, representative of Paramount Chief Bai Farmatas Bubu Ngbak, recount the challenges Sierra Leoneans faced during the Ebola outbreak and described the loan as a great help to the people of Kambia. He encouraged all those that are to benefit from the loan to embrace the opportunity given to them with open arms and seriousness.
