The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) started disbursing funds to owners of micro-businesses across the country on Wednesday, June 24, 2020.

The provisions come from the special fund set up by the government to cushion micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

At the said date, the NBSSI began the disbursement of GH¢1 million to 1,000 applicants under the first tranche of the GH¢1 billion Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) business support scheme.

The Executive Director of NBSSI, Mrs. Kosi Yankey-Ayeh has disclosed that the board since June 24 has been able to disburse funds from the CAP to “over 10,000 small scale businesses.”

The beneficiaries, whose documentation checked out and met the requirements of the NBSSI, received up to GH¢2,000 via mobile money under the Adom Micro-Soft Loans, for micro-enterprises.

She made this disclosure in an interview with Happy 98.9 FM’s Samuel Eshun, host of the Happy Morning Show.

Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh disclosed that the application process was categorized into three (3) to help in the smooth processing of financial aid. And was also done in accordance with the amounts needed by these traders and business people.

“We divided the application into different categories. We have the Adom loans which provide funding between the ranges of GH¢1 to GH¢2,000. This is for the micro-enterprises and many have applied for such loans. The next level is Anidaso scheme for the small level enterprises who receive up to 20,000.”

All the loans are to be paid with an interest of 3% within two years after a moratorium of one year.

After realizing most of the funding applications came from the micro sector, the board decided to fund them first.

She advised beneficiaries of the loan facility to work with the money and make sure they stabilize their businesses “because we don’t know when COVID-19 will end.