New year, new challenges!

2009 arrived as 2008 ended on a positive note for ID-Ghana. Indeed, a number of potential donors have confirmed their desire to support our actions:

• Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED), the German cooperation, confirmed a 3-year support for the co-financing the one Executive Director and one Finance and Administrative Manager position;
• The French Embassy in Accra, through the Fund for Social Development (FSD) has also confirmed its will to fund the development of a loan product aiming at reaching out to very poor micro-entrepreneurs, like the “Kick Start” loans developed by ALIDé in Benin (see article of 23 May 2008 on this subject);
• Global Rating and Assessment Service (GRASS) has expressed its readiness to co-finance a comprehensive rating of ID-Ghana by Microfinanza Rating in the last quarter of 2009. This program, which involves under ADA banner the Government of Luxembourg, the Microfinance Initiative Liechtenstein, the Swiss Cooperation, ResponsAbility and Oxfam Novib aims to support the social and financial rating of MFIs.

These funds will thus enable us to put in place a number of major projects in 2009 like the transfer of leadership to a local management team (the ads have already been placed in local newspapers) or the development of a loan product without fees or interest that will enable us to increase our impact on the poorest entrepreneurs of Accra.
The rating with the Italian agency Microfinanza Rating, which will include a part related to the evaluation of purely financial services (credit and savings) and a part that will seek to assess the social impact of ID-Ghana, is bound to enhance critically our credibility towards future funders.
But these milestones of ID-Ghana’s 2009 development plan are far from covering all the projects scheduled for this year. Indeed, the opening of a new branch, probably in the Northern neighbourhood of Anyaa, the expansion of our ‘Onipa Nua’ group methodology (based on the pilot-experience of Glefe, see article of 30th, January and 10th, February 2007) which, since 1st, January, became the only methodology used in residential areas, the development of new trainings modules or the deployment of a savings methodology in market areas, are as many decisive projects that will enable us to reach out to 8,000 micro-entrepreneurs (against just over 5,000 last year) and achieve a level of financial sustainability of 88% at the end of 2009 (against about 80% at end 2008).
The ID-Ghana team, who gathered today in Head Office for its yearly party, is more than ever motivated to pick these challenges!