ECG

The National Private Electricity Vendors Association has passionately appealed to the Electricity Company of Ghana to reconsider the new minimum quota level of ¢20000.

This follows an increase in the minimum quota purchase per meter type from ¢5000 to

A letter signed by the Managing Director of the ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama, pointed out that this is to reduce the volume of daily transactions and also to quicken the processing of quota

But the National Private Electricity Vendors Association in a statement said vendors who have nowtive from March 1, 2023 will ECG customers within their localities because they will then have to travel to other areas to purchase credits for their meters.

“With due respect, may we request you to consider not to increase the minimum quota level to the ¢20,000. We fervently appeal that you maintain the current quota purchase of ¢5000 the Minister, Dr Opoku Prempeh to position Ghana’s energy sector positively in the eyes of the international investor com- per meter , since the change will have tremendous impact on vendors as well as customers within the communication countrywide”.

Also, it said with even the current minimum level some vendors have dropped from operating from their locality simply because enough capital for their operations, pay for shops rent, utilities and cashiers they have employed.

“Some vendors are also operating more than one meter system because of their locations either on boundary with other meters installation or ECG Districts boarders”, it mentioned.

“Again not all vendors will have the capacity to obtain enough funds to cope and operate with the new minimum level of quota purchase especially when they are operating more than one vendors to stand in ECG during odd hours when the letter is not operating will have harsh consequences on customers countrywide because majority may not have the required amount being requested to operate more”, it added.

Continuing, it said the ECG should take a cue from the Bank of Ghana which has directed the customer’s transactions to only ¢15,000, “so raising your requirement to ¢20,000 will be in contravention to Bank of Ghana’s directives and obviously pose great challenge to vendors loading their wallets”.

Furthermore, the National Private Electricity Vendors Association said the possibility of compounding unemployment in the country will also be very great for as it is now that no vender employs less than two cashiers for their operations.

“We should also very mindful of the fact that every negative issue happening in this our country is always attributed to the government. Inconveniencing customers in their localities may cause/call for the government intervention in such a situation, especially when the country is drawing near to election”, it added.

“May we humbly suggest that in view of ECG Management intention to introduce the super vending concept, some of these issues be assigned to the Super Vendors to be appointed to handle, so that Vendors can thrash out most of these complications that may crop up in the process with their respective assigned Super Vendors”, it concluded.

The USAID-supported Feed the Future Ghana Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture (MFA) Activity has organized a breakfast meeting and mini fair for female-led agribusinesses in Tamale.

The event showcased the important role and contribution of female-led/owned agribusiness in the Feed the Future target value chains of maize, soy, groundnut, cowpea, mango, cashew, and shea to food security, and inclusive economic growth in Ghana.

It was attended by over 150 stakeholders in the agricultural sector including representatives of USAID, government and non-governmental organizations, women’s groups, trade associations, institutions.

The highlight of the celebration was the recognition of a women’s agribusiness group and two MFA supporting women to realize their potential and contribute towards Ghana’s agriculture sector.

Kusanaba Women’s Group was recognized for empowering over 1,200 women in the Upper East Region to process shea butter to COVID-19 pandemic on their livelihoods; Bawku East Small Scale Farmers Association Rural number of female-led/owned agribusinesses in the Upper East Region; and Tumu Cooperative Credit Union for disbursing the female-led/owned agribusinesses in the Upper West Region.

The Chief of Party, Feed the Future Ghana Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture Activity, Dr. Victor Antwi, said, “Agriculture is paramount in driving Ghana’s sustainable economic growth and journey to self-reliance. The contribution of women who constitute more than half of Ghana’s population is critical.”

“USAID through the MFA Activity is working with transaction advi-tions to ensure agribusinesses including those led by females’ increase their contribution to food security and improved livelihoods. As of February 2023, MFA had facilitated $192.9 million to 25,408 agribusinesses including 54% female-led enterprises in the maize, soy, groundnut, cowpea, cashew, mango, and shea value chains.

“The US Government, also through the MFA, released $2.77 million under the COVID-19 Relief and Resilience Challenge Fund in 2022 to support over 29,000 smallholder farmers and rural enterprises to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic and become more resilient against possible future shocks,” he added.

The event was held to commemorate 2023 International Women’s Day celebration and it was under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. It sought to explore the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. MFA collaborated with Ghana Resil- ience in Northern Ghana (RING II) Activity, Policy LINK and Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity to organize it.

About Feed the Future Ghana MFA Activity

The Feed the Future Ghana Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture (MFA) Activity is a USAID activity that will improve access tonesses in Ghana. The Activity enables transaction advisors to support agribusinesses to secure loans and investment. MFA also ers and agribusinesses, so that enterprises can purchase agricultural inputs (such as seeds and fertilizers), invest in processing, expand production, and scale operations.

From 2020 to 2024, MFA is to help 81,493 enterprises access $500 million in new sales. MFA is also supporting Ghana’s agriculthe negative impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on farm-

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