Companies and businesses under those sectors requiring financial aid to undertake all forms of projects including infrastructure, buying of equipment and capacity building, could apply to the bank for a tailored facility at attractive rates.
The products, PraizPack for churches, HealthPlus for healthcare institutions and EducationPlus for schools, were launched Thursday at the Bank’s annual SME Clinic that aims at building the capacity of business owners, managers of small and medium enterprises to help them improve their businesses.
Head of Business and Personal Banking at OmniBank, Ebow Quayson, described the products as attractive.
“We’ve identified the fact that no particular [financial] institution is giving that particular focus so we feel that what we’ve done is interesting. It’s attractive, and it’s affordable,” Mr. Quayson said.
Mr. Quayson said the products would offer attractive interests rate, which he noted would be negotiable to give the best to clients.
“The interest rate is negotiable… We can discuss and the amount that you’ll take will also determine what interest rate we should give and of course, the tenure of the facility will also determine what interest rate we should give,” he said.
He said the Bank observed there were some needs of businesses and companies in the sectors which were not being met, hence the decision to step in to fill in the gap.
“Pharmacies, clinics, hospitals have particular need for assets finance, for working capital for project finance that are not being met. When you go to schools or educational sector, it’s the same situation.
“They need to expand their school blocks, they need to buy generators, they need to do some capacity building for staff, they need some management loans for staff. Churches need to buy buses, they need to buy musical instrument [but] that is not being met so we felt that we should come up with this Health, Church and School pack to identify those needs and to satisfy those needs,” Mr Quayson explained.
He said there will not be a cap on how much the bank will offer, noting the amount one can access will depend on the company’s financial mite.
However, he said, beneficiaries would be required to show proof of registration of the company with the respective regulatory bodies, must have proven management capabilities as well as the wherewithal to repay the facility they would receive.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana