Micro Credit and Finance

 
This is in line with our holistic and integrated approach to solving problems. If people are poor and cannot send their children to school, it does not make sense putting up the school. We should be able to help the parents send their children to school. Apart from school, the people should be able to earn a living and lead a normal life hence the micro credit project.
Micro credit programmes extend small loans to very poor people for self-employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and their families. These initiatives can come in a variety of packages, serve a wide cross section of client base and their product can be delivered in a free standing mode or as an integral part of the services provided by a Community Based Financial Institution or a Credit Union.
In general terms, they fill a gap left by mainstream commercial lenders who simply would not even consider lending to certain potential borrowers for a variety of reasons, thereby leaving them with no choice, other than to seek alternative sources of capital which inevitably incur extremely high rates of interest. Those reasons could include (individually or in combination):• The amount is too small - most commercial lenders are not interested in making small loans.• Tainted or no credit history - most commercial lenders are reluctant to deal with young and/or first time borrowers with no credit history and certainly tend to shy away from lending to those they deem to be poor credit risks• The loans are largely unsecured - most commercial lenders will require some form of asset based security whereas loans made by micro financiers may require no security other than a promise to repay.
GHANA
In Ghana, hostile economic and political environments have resulted in the implementation of a package of economic programmes, which limit the social and economic possibilities and rights of our people of Ghana and the environment in particular. It limits especially our children to basic education and health facilities as well as to the enjoyment of adequate care and protection from their parents. The spectacle of street children and chronic child labour are constant reminder of the regrettable violations of the social and cultural rights of the children.
The rate of unemployment and a reduction in real wages and salaries have increased the burden that our women have to shoulder in trying to support a living for the family. Other features of the economic deterioration are; Rural-urban migration, Criminality, Poor education, many school drop-outs, Prostitution, teenage pregnancy etc.
The growth of sprawling informal sector settlements in our cities and towns is another evidence of how economic policy has impoverished and dehumanised our young men and women.
THIRDWAY
That is why here at Thirdway our overall aim is to improve the economic and social situation of the people by increasing access to income-generating activities and by providing required training.
We need your financial support. It is also possible to adopt a number of participants or invest directly into our microfinance scheme.
We shall not discriminate in giving out credits but women will form greater part of our clients.
Target groups
The existing local professional groups are our targeted populations to benefit from our micro-finance project. These groups include:

• Kente weavers
• Fishermen/fishmongers
• Farmers
• Salt miners
• Traders (with an emphasis on women)
• Carpenters
• Masons
• Apprentices from vocational institutions

Most of the local self-employed start their income-generating activities on a very small scale, usually with no outside assistance. They keep operating-costs low by using handmade or second-hand equipment and family labour. Businesses often operate from within the home.Unfortunately, they often have no future, since they have no access to capital beyond sources from family, friends, or professional moneylenders.
Usually, a small amount of capital can already produce growth. A modest loan of about 500 euros according our findings buys a box of merchandise, a few tools or fertiliser for an acre of land, and this can yield enough to sustain an entire family. A fisherman an increase his income considerably by working with improved and relatively cheap nets, bought with a one-off loan.
Though micro-finance is successful, many people in rural areas do not have access to these funds. Institutional and human capacity to deliver services is lacking and investment is needed to build this up in an effective way.
The goal of a micro-finance project is to create income and employment in poor communities through the development of local micro-enterprises and, in the process, increase the financial well-being of borrowers, their families, and the community at large. Specifically this is in line with the Thirdway organizations mission of realising economic and social rights in a more practical form. We believe in order for the parents to take care of their children’s education they need money to pay for the education among other things.
BENEFITS
Assisting people with micro-credit will lead to the creation of new income in local communities.The advantages of the professions in which the self-employed are involved are:

• micro-enterprises are simple to operate;
• they use locally available skills;
• they are labour-intensive and create significant employment;
• they improve the income of the working poor, especially women;
• they can serve as a basis for community participation and the empowerment of clients;
• they can pay market interest rates charged on loans, which can help a project cover cost and reach more people.