The Chief Executive Officer of the Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Mrs Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, has urged the youth to take advantage of the Job Enterprise Fund created by the government to equip the youth with entrepreneurial skills.
The Job Enterprise Fund, she explained, was a job-creation scheme aimed at engaging the youth to become entrepreneurs in future.
Mrs Tamakloe Attionu said that when she paid a working visit to two MASLOC-funded groups in the Ashaiman municipality.
They were the Ashaiman Irrigation Farmers’ Cooperative who are mainly rice and vegetable farmers and the Ashaiman Shoemakers’ Association.
Mrs Tamakloe Attionu advised the beneficiaries of the project to encourage their children who were still in their youthful years to take advantage of the Job Enterprise Fund.
Ashaiman Irrigation Farmers’ Cooperative
The Chairman of the farmers’ cooperative, Mr Emmanuel Korley, thanked MASLOC for the support given them, and appealed that MASLOC expedited the disbursement of the fourth tranche of their funds to enable them to meet the demands of their local and international customers.
The group, which has a membership of 107, has so far benefited from funding from MASLOC on three occasions and are currently waiting for their fourth disbursement of GH¢102,000 to boost their production.
Ashaiman Shoemakers’ Association
The Chairman of the Ashaiman Shoemakers’ Association, Mr Fred Kofi Lawson, appealed to MASLOC to assist them acquire industrial leather-sewing machines to enable them to produce more shoes and also improve the quality of their products.
He further appealed for the second part of their loans to be paid on time as they needed to meet a deadline for the supply of footwear.
Mr Lawson thanked MASLOC for supporting the association which was made up of 22 members and manufactures of over 120 shoes and sandals every fortnight.
Mrs Tamakloe Attionu commended members of both groups for their repayment efforts, and called on other beneficiaries of MASLOC loans to emulate their example.
She gave the assurance that MASLOC would continue to support them in order to leverage their activities for the benefit of the nation.