The Center for Microfinance and Small Credits (MASLOC) was only able to recover 10% of loans outstanding from beneficiaries in the Volta and Oti regions.
This was revealed by MASLOC Managing Director Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakaria in an interview with JoyNews after a stakeholder meeting in Ho.“
“Beneficiaries in the Volta region and now the Volta and Oti regions owed ¢5 million, we were only able to recover ¢500,000, or only 10%,” she said .
She therefore urged beneficiaries who have not yet settled their debts to do so or risk being prosecuted.
She said that across the country, recovering loans from beneficiaries has proven difficult. This, she said, prevented the Center from providing loans to others.
According to her, the sums recovered from the defaulters will allow the Center to grow. So she reached out to relevant stakeholders to help with fundraising.
She noted that the aim of the Center is to ensure that women in the market benefit more from the loans so that they can expand their businesses.
The CEO also praised agents in the Ashanti region for being the best in loan collection and urged other regions to do the same. According to Shanni Zakaria, it is MASLOC’s hope to recover at least around 84% of loans by 2024.
For his part, Volta Regional Director of MASLOC, MacJohn Kale, noted that raising public awareness will go a long way in ensuring that beneficiaries settle their debts with the Center.
Meanwhile, MASLOC noted that the Center is open to all Ghanaians over the age of 18, regardless of their political affiliation.