MAKING FINANCE WORK FOR GHANA FORUM HELD

Professor George Gyan-Baffuor, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning has observed that though financial sector reforms have resulted in expansion and increasing competition in the banking sector, the share of credit and other financial services going to agriculture and rural population still remains very low.

He said services of the microfinance institutions have not been well suited to the needs and risks profiles of farmers and operators along the agricultural value chain.

To this end he challenged financial experts and financial institutions in Ghana to come out with programmes and proposals to address this issue as well as access to affordable finance for poor, medium term funds for SMEs.

Prof Gyan-Baffuor said this when he opened a one-day workshop on “Making Finance Work for Ghana Forum in Accra. It was organized by the government and Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network (GHAMFIN).

The Forum which is a prelude to the “Making Finance Work for Africa Forum” has brought together over 150 Ghanaian and international financial sector champions from the public and private sector and development partners to deliberate on the second phase of the financial sector reforms.

Participants would also discuss how to develop the Ghanaian microfinance and micro insurance sector, how to reduce lending risks and develop effective consumer education and financial literacy.

Prof Gyan-Baffuor also underscored the need for participants to think of innovative ways to improve consumer education and protection to safeguard the interest of consumers. This, he noted would empower consumers of financial services to know their rights and liabilities to enable them make informed choices.

He said government recognizes that tackling poverty is one of the most effective ways to achieve all the other seven MDGs and that Microfinance is a strategy for wealth creation and poverty reduction.

“The government therefore, in partnership with other support institutions and development partners, in the past year or so has been engaged in promoting the enabling conditions that are meant to promote microfinance as a strategy for wealth creation and poverty reduction”

He urged participants to also consider providing the poor with micro insurance as a tool for mitigating some of the risks associated with lending to the poor.

“We are convinced that this adds value to the provision of financial services and can therefore be beneficial in building customer loyalty and allow expansion into new markets that might previously have been too risky to lend to”, he stressed.

Consolate Rusagara, Director of the Financial Systems Department of the World Bank commended Ghana for the progress made with her financial reforms and urged stakeholders to maintain `good business ethics to ensure trust and confidence in the reforms.

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