MASLOC to open offices at major markets

Government is to make credit accessibility from the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to market women easier with the creation of MASLOC offices in major market centres across the country.

The First Lady Mrs. Lordina Mahama addressing participants at the maiden National Market Women conference on the theme: “Empowering Market Women for Economic Prosperity”, held at the forecourt of the State House in Accra stated that government is carrying out major expansion of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, by continuing the implementation of its lending programmes, into other areas such as poultry and fish production.

She also disclosed that MASLOC intends to support over fifteen thousand (15,000) people in the small and medium scale enterprises sector, in addition to disbursing funds to over two hundred thousand (200, 000) people engaged in food-crop farming and food marketing.


According to her, for most girls involved in “Kayayei, government is providing alternative sources of livelihood under the 1000 Out-of-School (Kayayei) Youth Employment Agency Programme, to cover 10, 000 of such people.

Commending the significant roles market women play in the socio-economic life of people, as they help facilitate the exchange of goods and services, and create jobs, she said government has recognized their contribution and that has informed the modernization of most traditional markets in the country to improve the general environment in which they operate.

“The modernization of all major markets will continue to be the government strategy, for expanding opportunities, for traders across the country as well as making Ghana a major trading powerhouse in the West African Sub-region”, she added.

The First Lady was confident that “with more opportunities to start and manage viable business, greater access to land, education and skills development, and more opportunities to participate in decision-making, women can pull themselves out of poverty and improve the quality of life of their families and communities. She therefore urged them to take advantage of opportunities available to them to elevate their businesses.

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur noted that with women constituting 90.9% of the informal sector which is the engine of economic transformation, it is important to focus on providing the basic infrastructure needs to support the effective operation of market places where majority of these women operate.

She stated that the market Women conference was initiated as a result of a study conducted selected markets that show some gaps that hinder progress of market women in their business. The study revealed that most of the women have neither participated in any form of training nor received any form of direct economic empowerment initiatives from government. Also the study showed challenges with financial resources, while other have concerns with market infrastructure and facilities.

This therefore led to the training of over 200 market women in Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, and greater Accra Regions with practical training in financial management, leadership, use of technology to enhance work, basic healthcare and among others aimed at equipping the women with competencies that will enable them enhance operations in their various markets.

The Minister said they are embarking on bold and sustained strategies to advance women’s opportunities and rights and to ensure that women can participate and be heard. This they started by creating a forum during the training that provided opportunity for the women to interact with relevant government officials so that they can understand the specific issues and challenges facing market women with emphasis on sanitation and health needs in the market.