BoG-MiDA sign $82.4 agreement

Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) yesterday signed an $82.4 million agreement for the implementation of an agricultural credit and financial service activities under the Millennium Challenge Compact.
The amount comprise a revolving facility of $58.4 million under the Agricultural Credit Activity — which includes $40.7 million as credit and $17.7 million for capacity building — and $24 million for the financial services activity.
The Chief Executive Officer of MiDA, Mr Martin Esson Benjamin, said at the ceremony that the agricultural credit programme of the fund would be issued to support an on-lending facility for the production of high-value horticultural and staple food crops and to finance related value chain activities in the 23 districts covered under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).
The MiDA is the authority set up to manage Ghana’s $547 million MCA compact signed between Ghana and the United States of America (USA).
Mr Esson-Benjamin stated that under the agriculture credit programme, funds would be made available through participating financial institutions to be accredited by the BoG.
He said group loans would be granted to farmer-based institutions which graduated from MiDA-run training programmes and also to support micro and small enterprises engaged in production, transportation, storage, marketing, processing and related value added activities involving high value horticultural crops.
He said the financial services activity which was in two parts was aimed at improving the National Payment system.
MiDA is providing a grant for the cheque codeline clearing system and the automated clearing house system at the BoG as well as funding the review of the National Payment System laws, the CEO stated.
Under the financial services activity, MCA funds would be used to sponsor a three-year nation-wide public awareness campaign on the use of the payment systems available through the banking sector.
Mr Esson-Benjamin added that MiDA would also fund the computerisation and automation of all rural banks in the country and to some extent, savings and loans companies, in collaboration with the ARB Apex Bank.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah, said the agreement was in line with the bank’s financial sector strategy.
He said the central bank had started the Ghana Interbank Payment System, a comprehensive platform for the financial sector, which involved the use of a biometric smart card.
Dr Acquah said the system would ensure an electronic means of payment that would be used to reach a large majority of the unbanked in the country.