Pro credit

Story: Matilda Attram & Esther Dede Tetteh

PRO CREDIT, a non-financial institution has introduced a package known as 'Agro Loan' to farmers in the country to enable them to expand their production.
The package is a soft loan facility to them as part of the company’s commitment to supporting farmers in the country.
The Managing Director of Pro Credit, Ms Etwige Takassi, speaking at an encounter with the media in Accra, said the move was in line with the company's objective of boosting the operations of farmers in Ghana.
She said the company also recognised the need for the private sector to support the government's drive at boosting agricultural activity in the country hence the package.
She noted that support from the private sector, particularly banks for farmers in the country, was insignificant hence the move by Pro Credit to augment government support.
Ms Takassi said the package was targeted at farmers in the area of livestock production, cash crops, vegetables, fruits, aqua culture, snail farming, and mushroom farming.
She said the country's agriculture sector was of equal value as other ventures hence the need for the support, which formed part of their corporate social responsibility.
She noted that as the first private non-financial institution in Ghana, Pro Credit was determined to become the leading provider of financial services to the agricultural sector.
The Deputy General Manager, Mr Philip Mensah, said the company had over the past year and a half trained officers who specialised in agribusinesses and had recently established a training centre to orient its clients on the adaptation of good farming practices.
He explained that the company was ready to reschedule payment of loans granted to its clients when they were faced with disasters.
He also advised farmers to adapt to good farming practices so that they could identify and prevent diseases.
He also stated that the minimum loan the company granted was GH¢50, which could not be secured from most banks.
Mr Mensah said before the loans were granted to clients, they must first have the basic requirements such as being an experienced farmer, after which the company would enquire about the operations of the farmer with performance mainly as the base.