INTRODUCING CHRISTIAN
RURAL AID NETWORK (CRAN)
WITH FOCUS ON ITS
MICROFINANCE AND VILLAGE
ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES
CRAN is:
• A rural development NGO
established in 1993 with its seat
in Cape Coast in the C/R of Ghana.
• Registered as an NGO (under the
Companies Code 1963, Act 179)
with (Reg. No: 56925), and also
with the Department of Social
Welfare (Reg. No. DSW/ 671).
CRAN is a member of:
Ghana Association of Private
Voluntary Organisations in
Development (GAPVOD)
Ghana Microfinance Institutions
Network (GHAMFIN)
Association of Microfinance
NGOs
Our Vision:
To see a Ghanaian society in
which, poverty and its
concomitants including hunger,
illiteracy, ignorance and squalor,
which characterise the lives of
majority of the country’s rural
population are substantially
reduced if not completely
eradicated, leading to the
attainment of social justice.
Our Mission:
To work towards improvement in
the quality of life for the rural poor
and disadvantaged populations/
communities in a holistic manner
(physically, socially, economically
and spiritually) with emphasis on
the economic and social
empowerment of women as well as
the right of children to quality
formal basic education in a most
professional and qualitative manner.
Our Main Objectives:
• Contribute towards social and economic
development and improved quality of life
for poor rural households & communities
with emphasis on women and children
within CRAN’s geographical scope of
operation.
• Promote and provide access to quality
formal basic education for children within
deprived rural communities and by that
contributing to bridging the urban-rural,
gaps in basic education in Ghana and also
as long-term means to poverty reduction.
CRAN’s Main Programme Areas:
a. Social Development
Programme
b. Microfinance for
Development
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME:
a)
Focuses mainly on the following areas:
Promotion of quality basic education
b)
Promotion of vocational & entrepreneurial
training for rural households especially women
towards self-employable skills acquisition;
c)
Promotion of village micro-enterprises through
the combination of appropriate technologies,
entrepreneurial training and microfinance;
d)
HIV/AIDS prevention education & support for
direct and indirect victims of the pandemic;
e)
Relief programmes for Refugees;
f)
Support for Village Churches as agents of
community development
MICROFINANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMME
CRAN’s Microfinance programme broadly entails:
Rural and Informal Sector Microfinance;
Extension of Microcredits to rural & periurban poor households on both individual
and on group basis;
Rural savings mobilisation schemes based
on the traditional time-tested ‘Susu’ system;
Establishment of Village Banks and
Microcredit Village Agencies.
Geographical Scope of CRAN’s Activities:
CRAN has been operating within ten districts across three
Regions Western, Central and Volta Regions; in Ghana. The
districts are:
Central Region




Mfantsiman District
Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District
Cape Coast District,
KEEA District
Western Region
 Shama-Ahanta East District
 Mpohor Wassa East District
Volta Region:




Hohoe District
Kpando District
Jasikan District
Kadjebi District
MAIN OBJECTIVES OF CRAN’S MICROFINANCE
•
To reach 30,000 poor households with microcredits by the year 2010 and
50,000 households by the year 2015.
•
To ensure that at least 70% of the rural and peri-urban poor who receive
microcredits under the programme by 2015 within the various target areas
are and remain women.
•
Ensure that CRAN’s Microfinance covers at least five districts each within
each of the three target regions of Ghana - Central, Western and Volta
Regions where CRAN is currently operating by 2015.
•
CRAN’s Microfinance programme becomes fully self sustainable by 2012
and largely independent of foreign donor funding.
•
Attain a microfinance institutional status that promotes at least 2.5% of
clients from subsistence to income generating to micro-enterprise and to
small-scale industry yearly staring from 2007.
•
CRAN’s Microfinance programme graduates into a fully-fledged
microfinance institution and thereupon becoming a key player in Ghana’s
microfinance industry by 2012
•
Provide entrepreneurial capacity building training and business advisory
programme to at least 25% of total registered clients in a year.
OUR MICROFINANCE PRODUCTS
•
Short-Term Business Loan (STBL)
Duration: Six months. Interest rate: 19% (38%
annualised)
•
Long-Term Business Loan (STBL)
Duration: Twelve months. Interest rate: 38%
•
Inventory Loans
In the form of agricultural and agro-inputs and
delivered directly to farmers and agro-processors
other than cash. Currently, the inventory loan
facility remains a veritable part of CRAN’s Village
Enterprises Development Promotion Programme `
(VEDPP). Duration: Twelve months. Interest rate:
20 - 30%
OTHER MICROFINANCE RELATED SERVICES
• Training and Business Advisory services
• Village Enterprises Development services
• Micro-Banking services (Village/Community
Bank Concept)
• Voluntary Susu Savings scheme
CRAN Microfinance Operating system
HQ in Cape Coast approves
most loans
Hohoe Branch
approves all loans
in the VR
Kpando
Unit
Kadjebi
Unit
Abura
Unit
Elmina
Unit
Shama
Kedzi
Unit
CC Castle
Unit
Clients: Solidarity Groups and some few
Individual Loans
Swidu
Unit
LOAN DISBURSEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
PROCEDURES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Field officers attached to each MF Unit identify and
form solidarity groups.
A Training and Monitoring Team provides training for
the group which covers a period of 4 – 8 weeks to
prepare them for the loan.
Training and Monitoring Team assists group to
complete loan application forms
Loan is processed and disbursed to the
group/individual members in the group (Group sizes
range from 25 to 40 members).
All loans disbursed are captured and tracked using
our Loan Performer MIS
The repayment of Loans is done through clients’
daily savings or group savings.
A Recovery Team chases after defaulting loans.
Vital Statistics on the
current state of CRAN
Microfinance
(See attached excel sheet)
ABOUT CRAN’S VILLAGE ENTERPRISES
DEVELOPMENT PROMOTION PROGRAMME
(VEDPP)
• VEDPP is CRAN’s response to realities on the
ground which necessitates going a step beyond
microfinance i.e. the delivery of credits and
savings mobilisation.
Aim & Objective of VEDPP
• To promote increased value added production
income generation and employment at the
village level for poverty reduction and wealth
creation.
Key Strategy of the VEDPP
VEDPP design and implementation strategy
involves the combination of the following:
• Training for self-employable & entrepreneurial
skills acquisition and development;
• Facilitating access to appropriate rural
technologies and technology transfer; and
• Facilitating access to rural finance through
microcredits extension and management.
VEDPP Key Strategy
Appropriate rural
technology transfer
Entrepreneurial
and
self-employable
skills training
Access to rural
finance through
microcredits extension
Production Organisation under the VEDPP
Establishment of village production companies based on clear
division of labour and enterprise management instead of the
usual group or individual production units.
Specific Areas of Production Intervention under the VEDPP
• Stepping up agricultural production through various
interventions (Block Farming methods etc.).
• Diversification of agricultural production with non-traditional
products like mushrooms, bee-farming, woodlots etc.
• Provision and/or facilitating access to appropriate technologies
for small-scale agro-processing.
• Facilitating the creation of viable and sustainable village
enterprises.
• Entrepreneurial capacity building and enterprise development
for target groups and individuals;
• Transfer of and access to appropriate technologies for village
enterprises and production;
• Provision of and access to rural finance in the form of microcredits for target groups.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF CRAN
Board of Directors of CRAN
Advisory Committee of Experts on
Microfinance
Executive Management
Project Managers/Field Staff
Grassroots units as the Direct Beneficiaries
MF CAPITALISATION SOURCES
Source
Type of facility Interest Rate
& amount
Remarks
Cordaid – The
Netherlands
Loan €400,000
12.0% (Cedi
denominated)
€200,000 so far
disbursed to CRAN
SG-SSB Ltd.
1.3bn Cedis
Overdraft
facility
19.9%
Negotiations with
SG-SSB on-going
for top-up
Social
Investment
Fund (SIF)
Loan funds
1.0bn Cedis
14.5%
Facility has since
been repaid
15% (Cedi
denominated)
To be repaid into
CRAN social dev’t
fund
Tara Jane Trust, Loan £60,000
UK funds
EED, Germany
(Church Development
Service)
Grant
€175,000
------
For both VEDPP
and MF loans
capitalisation
PARTICIPATION IN GHANA GOVERNMENT INITIATED
AND DONOR FUNDED PROGRAMMES
Date
Project Designation
Description of Activity & Remarks
2002 -2004
Emergency Social Relief
Programme (ESRP)
Extension of Microcredits to Food Marketers in six
districts in the Western Region as part of the ESRP
where CRAN extended administered microcredits
to over 1,000 beneficiaries with great success.
2004 -2005
Promoting Private Sector
Development Programme (PPSDP) of
the GoG and the UNDP
CRAN was selected for participation in the capacity
building component of the PPSD programme.
2004 – 2005
Local Initiative Fund (LIF) subcomponent of the Community-Based
Nutrition and Food Security
Programme (CBNFSP) of the
Community-Based Poverty Reduction
Project (CBPRP)
CRAN selected as the Facilitating Organisation to
implement the Local Initiative Fund – LIF
(microfinance) sub-component of the CBNFSP in
ten pilot communities each in the KEEA District
(CR) Kadjebi District (VR). A World Bank sponsored
MoH / GHS Project).
2004 – 2006
Social Investment Fund (SIF)
CRAN selected to implement the microfinance
component of the SIF to various production groups
in four districts in the Central and Volta Regions.
2005 - 2006
Agricultural Extension Services
delivery by the Non-public sector
under the Extension Development
Fund (EDF)
CRAN selected to undertake extension services
delivery to farmers in the Hohoe District (Volta
Region) as a pilot under the aegis of the Non-Public
Sector Agricultural Extension Services programme
sponsored by the World Bank as part of the
Extension Development Fund (EDF)
KEY CHALLENGES FACED
• Inadequate capitalization of the scheme posing
threats to profitability and sustainability
• Interest rate not competitive because our cost of
borrowing is high
• Cost management (MF is labour intensive)
• Risk management – weak collateral system
FUTURE PLANS AND PROJECTIONS FOR
CRAN MICROFINANCE
• Carry out Microfinance Rating by mid-2007.
• Raise a total capitalisation fund of 2.5milion Euros
or 30bn Cedis over the next five years (2007 –
2012) through soft loans and grants etc.
• To reach out to at least 50,000 clients within the
three regions we are operating in by 2012.
• Transform the MF scheme into a full-fledged NonBanking Financial Institution by 2012.
• Float equity shares by 2013
AREAS IN WHICH WE NEED SUPPORT
• Capitalisation funds – in the form of soft or
concessionary loans & grants etc.
• Funds for training of managers and staff of the MF
programme – i.e. capacity building.
• Funds for training of clients.
• Funds for the acquisition of logistics including
vehicles, motorbikes, computers & accessories
and others.
CONTACT TO CRAN:
Address:
Christian Rural Aid Network (CRAN), Ghana
P.O. Box UC 97,
Cape Coast, C/R,
GHANA.
Tel. +233-42-33572
Fax: +233-42-34218
Mobile: 020 201 9399
E-mail: crangh@cran.org
or akucran@yahoo.com
Internet: www.cran.org
Office Location in Cape Coast: SIC Building Adjacent to Ghana Telecom.
Contact to our Volta Regional Office
CRAN, Volta Regional Office
P.O. Box 472
Hohoe, V/R., GHANA
Tel. +233 935 22195
Mobile: 0244 835 624
E-mail: cosbea@yahoo.com
Office Location in Hohoe: Adjacent to Shell Filling Station, close to the
District Assembly and the Hohoe Central Market.
OUR REFERENCES
• Ghana Association of Voluntary Organisations in
Development (GAPVOD), Accra.
• Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network
(GHAMAFIN), Accra.
• Association of Financial NGOs in Ghana (ASFIN)
• Deloitte and Touche, Accra Ghana (CRAN’s
financial auditors)
• CRAN Freundeskreis, e.V., Aachen, Germany
• Deutsche-Afrikanisch Zusammenarbiet (DAZ),
Greifswald, Germany.
THANK YOU