Joachim Behrens Scheessel GmbH has supported the project „Microfinance for Offinso“ in Ghana since 2008.
80 entrepreneurs who live in poverty through no fault of their own should be helped out of poverty by providing small loans with total support service. With Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), the partner organisation on site, the "Microfinance for Offinso"-project mainly supports single mothers who do not have any access to loans for expanding their small businesses because of missing securities. Next to a small loan every entrepreneur obtains commercial training and is additionally educated in social topics and health issues such as nutrition and HIV / AIDS awareness and prevention. Approximately 400 people are being helped out of poverty through this project as every client takes care of 5 family members on average.
Sinapi Aba Trust – our partner in Ghana
Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), partner of the Opportunity International Network, has been active in Ghana for more than10 years. SAT has established 16 branches in Ghana. Momentarily 51.686 clients, 92 % of which are women, are being supported in Ghana.
Background information on Offinso
The project „Microfinance for Offinso“ is especially designed for the city of Offinso, in the district of Offinso, in the Ashanti-region. Offinso has got 36.000 inhabitants and is located about 35 km north of Kumasi, the second largest city of Ghana. Offinso´s economy mainly consists of trading in agricultural produce such as plantains and corn as well as trading in manufactured articles such as clothing, spare parts, mobile phones and food products. The main part of this trading takes place at Offinso´s market, one of the largest in the Ashanti-region.
Despite these good economical conditions many people in Offinso live in poverty because they do not have access to money. It mainly concerns single mothers, divorced women and widows who have low educational background. They often have small trade stands and / or produce vegetables. The only way for them to obtain capital is dealing with dubious money lenders who make them pay an interest of 20 % or more daily. There is hardly anything left to live on at the end of a long hardworking day. In this way many people live underneath poverty-level with daily only 1$ or less on average. Next to this they have to cope with additional problems like insufficient educational institutions, inadequate medical care and bad infrastructure. In line with the "Microfinance for Offinso"-project, 80 of these deserving poor shall be accepted in the integrated microfinance programm of SAT.
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