The 1st Vice Chair of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA), Clement Boateng has applauded the government for its support given to businesses hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Extending their appreciation for the good work done by the National Board for Small Scale Enterprises (NBSSI) in disbursing these funds, GUTA has however insisted that they are welcome to some extra support from the government.
Clement Boateng said, “We expect more business support from Government just like the NBSSI supported us with the stimulus packages when the COVID-19 hit Ghana at the initial stages. Some of GUTA’s members received some support whilst others are yet to receive any. So I will plead with the Government to provide support to all applicants yet to be allocated funds from the NBSSI”.
He made this known in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show aired with e.TV Ghana and Happy FM.
On his accord, the Minister of Finance directed that a quota of funds from the NBSSI was to be dedicated solely to GUTA but that did not happen because, “the application was opened to all Ghanaians”.
Clement Boateng stated that Government expected some 200,000 people to apply for the NBSSI relief fund but was overwhelmed when 800,000 businesses and persons applied. “The amounts for business were reduced a bit in order to benefit lots of people”.
He said, “Just like Oliver Twist, we will always ask for more” and appealed to government to find other avenues of supporting local businesses.
The NBSSI was given GH¢600million government stimulus package for Micro Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), along with a GH¢90million MasterCard programme to provide drastic relief for the sector in the midst of devastating effects from the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The GH¢600million government soft-loan scheme and MasterCard’s programme – NBSSI MasterCard Foundation Recovery and Resilience Programme for MSMEs – according to NBSSI’s Executive Director, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, will benefit over 60,000 businesses.
By: Joel Sanco
