Visit of the new FSD Coordinator

Today the Chorkor branch received the visit of the new FSD Coordinator, Miss Elise Ponson. As some of you may remember, the FSD (Fund for Social Development) is a fund managed by the French Embassy which aims at bringing a direct support to local NGOs.
In our case, we are receiving this support for the second time, for the development of our 0% interest loan aiming at the most deprived micro entrepreneurs that we call "Kick Start loans".
Elise came on field to discover our methodology and she met with the Mokosane group, made of 13 Kick Start loanees. 2 of them got their loan in June, the rest in July. The average amount they got is GH¢ 44, which they all used in their business, like Rosemary Mensah (see photos below) who purchased Nigerian soap with it, which she sells in her community. In addition, most of the group is now saving GH¢ 1 to GH¢ 2 per week, while before they joined ID-Ghana almost none of them was saving. This kind of behavioural change is made possible thanks to the training the Social Mission team (in this case the Kick Start loan project manager, Godknows Kporha). He gives such trainings on a weekly basis to our Kick Start partners. After all, one could say that the Kick Start loans project is more of a financial education programme than a financial scheme. For rather sooner than later, our ambition is to see these special product beneficiaries be empowered enough to be able to manage a loan on their own, and access greater capital through our "standard" products...

Signature of the FSD funding contract

The contract between the French Embassy in Accra and ID-Ghana was signed today by the French Ambassador in Accra, HE Francis Hurtut (right) and the Executive Director of ID-Ghana (Romain Tevels, center), in presence of the Deputy Director of ID-Ghana (Bruno Achana, left).
As mentioned in a previous article (see this blog on 9th, January), this funding of € 24,000 over one year will enable ID-Ghana to develop an new loan product meant for the most deprived micro entrepreneurs of Accra. This product, named "Kick Start loan", won't have any interest or processing fee.
The idea is to identify potential micro entrepreneurs in a particularly difficult situation that does not allow them to manage a "standard" loan. A reinforced social follow-up would enable them to deal with the financial help (i.e. the loan) that ID-Ghana would give them. In a time span of one to two loan cycles (approximately 3 to 6 months), the micro entrepreneur will be in a position to upgrade herself and take a normal loan through our 'Onipa Nua' group methodology.


See also the related article on the French Embassy web site.

New year, new challenges!

2009 arrived as 2008 ended on a positive note for ID-Ghana. Indeed, a number of potential donors have confirmed their desire to support our actions:

• Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED), the German cooperation, confirmed a 3-year support for the co-financing the one Executive Director and one Finance and Administrative Manager position;
• The French Embassy in Accra, through the Fund for Social Development (FSD) has also confirmed its will to fund the development of a loan product aiming at reaching out to very poor micro-entrepreneurs, like the “Kick Start” loans developed by ALIDé in Benin (see article of 23 May 2008 on this subject);
• Global Rating and Assessment Service (GRASS) has expressed its readiness to co-finance a comprehensive rating of ID-Ghana by Microfinanza Rating in the last quarter of 2009. This program, which involves under ADA banner the Government of Luxembourg, the Microfinance Initiative Liechtenstein, the Swiss Cooperation, ResponsAbility and Oxfam Novib aims to support the social and financial rating of MFIs.

These funds will thus enable us to put in place a number of major projects in 2009 like the transfer of leadership to a local management team (the ads have already been placed in local newspapers) or the development of a loan product without fees or interest that will enable us to increase our impact on the poorest entrepreneurs of Accra.
The rating with the Italian agency Microfinanza Rating, which will include a part related to the evaluation of purely financial services (credit and savings) and a part that will seek to assess the social impact of ID-Ghana, is bound to enhance critically our credibility towards future funders.
But these milestones of ID-Ghana’s 2009 development plan are far from covering all the projects scheduled for this year. Indeed, the opening of a new branch, probably in the Northern neighbourhood of Anyaa, the expansion of our ‘Onipa Nua’ group methodology (based on the pilot-experience of Glefe, see article of 30th, January and 10th, February 2007) which, since 1st, January, became the only methodology used in residential areas, the development of new trainings modules or the deployment of a savings methodology in market areas, are as many decisive projects that will enable us to reach out to 8,000 micro-entrepreneurs (against just over 5,000 last year) and achieve a level of financial sustainability of 88% at the end of 2009 (against about 80% at end 2008).
The ID-Ghana team, who gathered today in Head Office for its yearly party, is more than ever motivated to pick these challenges!

French Embassy visit in Sodom and Gomorrah (Agbogbloshie)

The Agbogbloshie branch received a new visit from the French Embassy this morning.

H.E.Mr. Francis Hurtut, new French Ambassador to Ghana (who arrived last September) and Mr. Arnaud Dornon, Head of Cooperation and Cultural Services (who joined the Embassy at the same time) visited our beneficiaries with Mrs. Marie-Hélène Hoba, the Press Attachée of the Embassy and Mr. Julien Morel, Coordinator of the Social Development Fund (who already visited us last March).
The field visit took us to the slums of Sodom and Gomorrah where many partners (i.e. beneficiaries) of ID-Ghana live and work. Benjamin Sackey, the Branch Manager of Agbogbloshie, guided us in the narrow streets of the slum, one of the biggest in Accra in terms of population (more than 30,000 families live there!) but also probably the most precarious and deprived. It has indeed been threatened with displacement and destruction for many years and has therefore never been on the top list of Accra Municipality to develop the infrastructure and the provision of basic amenities to the dwellers.
The visit was an opportunity to show the Embassy the wide variety of occupations of micro entrepreneurs met: homeopathic pharmacy, grocery store, tailor, etc.
The visit carried on to the yam market where nearly 2,000 vendors sell goods spilled from the trucks coming from the Sahelian regions of Ghana (North).
Three years after the development of a loans and savings methodology for markets supported by the French Embassy, we have applied again today for a support of the Cooperation Services to develop a "Kick Start" loan product. This product, originally developed by ALIDé in Benin, could enable us to reach the poorest families by offering them free of guarantee a loan of about GH¢30 to GH¢40 (€21 to €28 approx) without interest or processing fees. We would then be able to propel within one or two loan cycles maximum these families towards a more classic loan product with interest. This pilot project, which we hope will begin in the first quarter of 2009, would make it possible to propose to the poorest segments of the population of Accra an opportunity to develop an economic activity and provide them with a a long-term partnership by offering them access in a first-time to these "Kick-Start"loans and then in a second time, in addition to training, to our existing products' Onipa Nua' (group loans in residential area) and 'Front Desk' (loans with repayment at the counter, in market areas).

Sodom & Gomorrah is an area located in the heart of the city and officially unpopulated.
It is shown in red on the map above

You can also access the article of the French Embassy in Accra on this visit by clicking here.

Visit of Agbogbloshie

Today, Agbogbloshie branch was visited by Mr. Julien Morel of the Co-operation &n Cultural Actions Services of the French Embassy in Accra. This branch has been actively supported over the last three years by a grant from the French Embassy that enabled the development of a front desk methodology. This support, managed directly by the Embassy and called Social Development Fund, came to an end in June 2007.

The visit of Mr. Morel, who recently took over his position, was a opportunity to make him discover the work of ID-Ghana through a series of visits of micro-enterprises - , like this snails seller (see photo) - before the grant of their first loan.

The exchanges with Mr. Benjamin Sackey the Branch Manager (left on the photo hereunder) & Mr. Hamidu Abubakar Sidiq, the Field Operations Manager (right on the photo, yellow shirt) enabled Julien Morel to have a direct interaction the operators who are the closest to the field.




The visit to the branch ended by a presentation of the loans & savings software - Loan Performer -, which is updated in the branch itself.

Translated by Promina Tevels

The French Minister for Cooperation, Development and Francophonie visits ID-Ghana

Ghana has received the visit by the French Minister for Cooperation, Development and Francophonie, Mrs. Girardin on Tuesday 17 January. An opportunity for her to visit ID-Ghana...
The French Embassy in Accra supports the development of a pilot branch in the market Agbogbloshie through a donation from the Fund for Social Development (FSD). It is therefore natural that the Minsiter chose to meet the beneficiaries of our organization during a visit to the training center located in the market (see photo). Mrs Girardin had had the opportunity to exchange a few words with the women with whom we work and to form an idea of the challenges we face everyday.

(See also the article on the website of the French Embassy, in French)