Mr. Sanyang, who was speaking to our reporter in an interview, said the loans were meant to promote and strengthen dynamic enterprise culture that would provide necessary ingredients, and thus accelerate socio- economic development. He urged the beneficiaries to make the best use of the loans and repay it on time with 20% interest rate.

Sanyang also pointed out that IBAS is a government institution that was established in 1975, under the Ministry of Economic Planning and Industrial Development (MEPID) with a view to providing support, and to serve as an impetus to the indigenous small and medium size enterprises. He added that IBAS benefits from government and UNDP/ILO subsidies in the form of financial and technical assistance, as well as generate funds through its own saving scheme.

“Priority is given to agric-business and food-processing, artisinal fishing and fish- processing/marketing, manufacturing/fabrication and appropriate technology enterprises, service industries and retail business, handicrafts, light-building construction industries and development of entrepreneurial skill and aptitudes,” he stated.

“For loan ceiling to fresh borrowers,” he said, it ranges from D500 to D250, 000, adding that the scale and nature of the proposed investment determines the loan.

According to Mr. Sanyang, IBAS is here to serve the population, and to help them realise their development needs.

On some of this year’s achievement, Mr. Sanyang said, new staff members have been recently recruited and were deployed in the provincial areas.

He said strategies have also been put in place to facilitate the smooth running of the organisation, such as entrepreneurship training, provision of micro-credit facilities and the promotion of client savings and other capital formation initiatives.

According to him, there are lots of loan applications in his office from all parts of the country, but due to inadequate human resource and mobility for field staff, these applications cannot be approved. He added that their field staff members needed mobility to keep track and monitor how the funds are being used.