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President launches GH¢600m COVID-19 Alleviation Programme today
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will today launch a GH¢600 million Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) business support scheme intended to support small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The fund is intended to provide relief to SMEs across the country that has been negatively affected by the disease.
In his fifth televised address to the nation, the President announced that government has partnered with the private sector to introduce a scheme in support of SMEs which were facing challenges owing to COVID-19.
“Government, in collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Business & Trade Associations and selected Commercial and Rural Banks, will roll out a soft loan scheme up to a total of GH¢600 million, which will have a one-year moratorium and two-year repayment period for micro, small and medium scale businesses,” he stated.
Executive Director of NBSSI, Esi Kosi Antwiwaa Yankey, earlier stated that the Board has developed an online portal to enable SMEs across the country access the GH¢600 million stimulus packages for businesses.
She said the portal was to ensure transparency and efficiency in disbursement of the package to applicants.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, she explained that the board was in discussions with concerned stakeholders to come up with eligibility criteria to ensure that viable businesses which were in need were supported.
She stated that more than 200,000 businesses would be supported under the coronavirus (COVID-19) stimulus package for SMEs adding that the NBSSI was further engaging traders and business owners to sensitise them on the package and how they could access it.
Applications from businesses, Madam Yankey, noted, would be processed through the portal, which was yet to be launched.
The Executive Director is expected to announce modalities for disbursement of the Scheme, and invited SMEs who require technical support, and not just financial support to reach out as well to the board.
Several platforms including nbssi.gov.gh/capsupport; mobile number platform (USSD) *718*555#; Call Centre Helpline: 030 274 7777, email address capsupport@nbssi.gov.gh have been made available to ensure access.
The SMEs sector, according to the University of Ghana study in 2015, contribute about 70 per cent to Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and account for about 92 per cent of businesses in the country.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
