Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) programs have direct effect on development and poverty reduction. We work at a grassroots level with families within our selected area of Northern Region – Ghana (Tamale Metropolis and Gushegu District Assembly) focusing especially on women, to help them develop new skills, encourage self-sufficiency, and gather the collateral needed to grow their income and reinvest back into their small business.
MED Goal Areas:
Focus on Poverty Outreach – serving those who have been consistently underserved by financial institutions in Northern Ghana (such as women, the poor, and indigenous and rural populations)
Financial and Operational Sustainability – generate enough revenue to cover the costs of providing financial services; and
Community Development – increase access to economic opportunities and business development activities
MED Modus Operandi:
Identification of Beneficiaries:
Through this program we select those people who are either engaged into very small trading activities (who are vulnerable to poverty) or have desire to start his/her own enterprise. After selection these selected beneficiaries go for enterprise training.
MED Education/Training:
We do have structured way of delivering enterprise concepts like capital, quality, book keeping, costing, risk hedging, budgeting, importance of savings, advantage of scale up, bargaining skill, value chain, marketing etc. After enterprise skill training, these selected beneficiaries go for a technical training as per their selected business/enterprise area. For technical training (like agriculture, animal husbandry etc.) we hire the technical expert. They go for exposure visit, if budget allows.
Micro Finance and Beginning of Enterprise/Business:
After selection and training, we try to link them with some small enterprises as per their liking/interest, some common enterprise areas are:
- Shea Butter Processing,
- Shea Nut trading,
- Shea Butter Soap Making,
- Bread Making,
- Grocery items trading,
- Grinding Mills,
- Tailoring,
- Goat, Ostrich, Guinea Fowl, Chicken rearing, etc.
We try to arrange the seed capital (USD 50 to USD 400 as grant or loan) to these trained beneficiaries from funding partners like banks, donor organizations, micro-finance institutions etc. These beneficiaries are linked to Markaz Community Cooperative Credit Union (MCCCU) for further financial assistance.
Monitoring, Loan Collection and Further Support:
After beginning of the enterprise we do constant follow up for loan recovery. We prefer providing loan on individual basis. We keep track of each and every individual clients/beneficiaries’ loan status through customized software and dedicated workforce. We also provide further support for enterprise if the beneficiaries ask for. Normally, our technical experts visit the technical enterprise sites to evaluate their modus operandi.
MED Oriented Units:
Markaz have some units/infrastructure to support its MED oriented activities like …
The Sewing School:
The Women Sewing School began some 15 years ago. There was a great need to help young girls and women who had no hope for the future. No means of livelihood. A lot ended up in drugs, stealing and prostitution. So the Sewing School was established to provide opportunity for these unfortunate ones to learn sewing skills so they can earn their own living and become useful active citizens.
Training Centre:
Radach Memorial Centre serves as training centre for most of the communities we work in and also an income-generating venture for the organization. Currently a 2000 capacity auditorium under construction is about 95% completed.
Model Agricultural Farms:
There is over 120 acres of model cashew farms under Cassava project and a 50 acre model ostrich farm; to help, demonstrate and motivate traditional poor and marginalized farming community to adopt non-traditional income generating ventures also.
Markaz Al Bishara 