By Alpha Abu
The loan scheme initiated by Government to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has recorded a recovery rate of 91 percent so far, according to Shiarka S. Sannoh - Chief Executive Officer of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDA).
He told a press conference at their Freetown office last week that recovery continues of the 26.5 billion Leones that SMEDA through the Central Bank handed over to Financial Service Providers (FSPs) for distribution to small businesses in early 2021.
Sannoh said it was a pilot phase and the next set of beneficiaries of the loan scheme will soon start receiving monies from the FSPs , as 15 billion old Leones has been disbursed to five of the ten FSPs that took part in the first exercise, and eight newly approved ones, to aid the process. Over two thousand people are to benefit from the latest loan scheme.
The SMEDA boss was however quick to point out that the other five FSPs yet to be included in the second phase, were still collecting the loans from the SMEs, and were not being omitted entirely from the scheme.
4,100 beneficiaries were initially earmarked for the first loan but eventually 6,209 benefitted, of which 4,440 were women.
The Munafa fund with a 9 percent interest is the first ever to be initiated by government to enhance small businesses in the country. In the new arrangement, SMES will now have 24 months to complete repayment of the loan, an improved time frame from the 12 months stipulated in the previous one.
President Julius Maada Bio officially launched the Munafa Fund in Magburaka Town in the north of the country on the 12th February 2021.
Copyright © Politico Online (09/01/23)
