By Kofi AHOVI
The government has reconsidered its decision to transform the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) into a non-bank financial institution.
According to the government, the current operations of EDIF bar any unnecessary government or political interference and thereby giving it the free hand to operate.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Hannah Tetteh, explained to BusinessWeek during the meet-the-press session last week, that considering the fallouts from the Micro-finance and Small Loan Centre (MASLOC) where issues of political meddling were raised and the huge record of non- payment of loans, the government decided to maintain the status quo of EDIF
The previous government, under President John Agyekum Kufuor, was considering the restructuring of EDIF as a non-bank financial institution to enable it to operate efficiently. This was because exporters were complaining about their inability to access the fund through the designated commercial banks.
EDIF funds were made available to exporters through commercial banks which had the sole responsibility of assessing the credit-worthiness of the exporters before granting them the loans. However, the banks themselves have their own export loan facilities and thereby creating a conflict of interest with respect to the issuance of loans.
Despite these challenges, EDIF approved a total of GH¢56,947 for 56 projects, during the first eight months of this year, under the Export Development and Promotion and the Export Credit and Project windows.
Under the Export Credit and Projects, a total of GH¢34.5 million was approved for 10 companies to produce products, such as pharmaceuticals, fruit drinks, palm oil, domestic plastic wares and pineapples, for export.
Under the Export Development and Promotion facility, a total of GH¢22.5 million was approved for 45 institutions and farmer-based associations. A key project funded under the facility is the cultivation of 5,000 acres of mango plantation in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo and Volta regions. Since the inception of the project in 2008, over 7,000 acres of mango has been cultivated with EDIF’s funding.
Other major projects supported under the Export Development and Promotion facility include the support to over 3,000 members of the Cotton Growers Association to cultivate cotton for export; support to the Northern Star Tomato Factory at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region to resuscitate operations; budgeting support to the Ghana Export Promotion Council to undertake various export promotion activities.
The government has reconsidered its decision to transform the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) into a non-bank financial institution.
According to the government, the current operations of EDIF bar any unnecessary government or political interference and thereby giving it the free hand to operate.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Hannah Tetteh, explained to BusinessWeek during the meet-the-press session last week, that considering the fallouts from the Micro-finance and Small Loan Centre (MASLOC) where issues of political meddling were raised and the huge record of non- payment of loans, the government decided to maintain the status quo of EDIF
The previous government, under President John Agyekum Kufuor, was considering the restructuring of EDIF as a non-bank financial institution to enable it to operate efficiently. This was because exporters were complaining about their inability to access the fund through the designated commercial banks.
EDIF funds were made available to exporters through commercial banks which had the sole responsibility of assessing the credit-worthiness of the exporters before granting them the loans. However, the banks themselves have their own export loan facilities and thereby creating a conflict of interest with respect to the issuance of loans.
Despite these challenges, EDIF approved a total of GH¢56,947 for 56 projects, during the first eight months of this year, under the Export Development and Promotion and the Export Credit and Project windows.
Under the Export Credit and Projects, a total of GH¢34.5 million was approved for 10 companies to produce products, such as pharmaceuticals, fruit drinks, palm oil, domestic plastic wares and pineapples, for export.
Under the Export Development and Promotion facility, a total of GH¢22.5 million was approved for 45 institutions and farmer-based associations. A key project funded under the facility is the cultivation of 5,000 acres of mango plantation in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo and Volta regions. Since the inception of the project in 2008, over 7,000 acres of mango has been cultivated with EDIF’s funding.
Other major projects supported under the Export Development and Promotion facility include the support to over 3,000 members of the Cotton Growers Association to cultivate cotton for export; support to the Northern Star Tomato Factory at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region to resuscitate operations; budgeting support to the Ghana Export Promotion Council to undertake various export promotion activities.
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