The government is raising stock for the Export and Import Bank (EXIMBANK) to offer soft loans to local businesses in the country.

The Minister of State in charge of Private Sector Development and Public Private Partnership, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, told journalists that the government wanted to give meaning to the core mandate of the EXIMBANK, which is to offer loans at lower rates than the ones offered by commercial banks.

He was speaking on the fringes of the National Youth in Construction Summit in Accra last Wednesday.

Organised by the Youth Inclusive Entrepreneurial Development Initiative for Employment (YIEDIE), the summit sought to expose the youth to the opportunities in the construction sector.

Dr Pelpuo said aside the lower interest rates, the EXIMBANK provided relaxed rules for people to take the opportunity to expand their businesses.

Another advantage, he said, was that business people would be empowered to go into other areas where others were afraid to go into.

"The EXIMBANK is an avenue for people to take a loan at lower interest rates than the ones offered by the commercial banks, with relaxed rules so people can expand their businesses," he said.

Dr Pelpuo said with the EXIMBANK, business people would not go through difficulty to access loans to expand their businesses.

Public-Private Partnership

Dr Pelpuo said the government wanted to leverage on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to create more jobs in the country and it had earmarked seven markets and other projects to be executed under the PPP.

He added that the government had finished with the feasibility studies of the Boankra Inland Port and the railway that runs from Accra, Tema, to the Western Corridor through to the northern part of the country.

He indicated that the government would soon give out the projects on a PPP arrangement.

He also cited the Takoradi Port expansion and installation of certain modern facilities that are ongoing under a PPP arrangement.

"The government is on course to make sure that construction efforts are going on so we can create jobs as a result. We are taking advantage of the infrastructure deficit to create jobs... housing, road construction, ports and harbours," he said.

Construction jobs

The Project Director of YIEDIE, Mrs Kafui Mills-Odoi, mentioned access to credit facilities and requisite skills as the major challenges preventing the youth from going into the construction industry.

She said the organisation wanted to liaise with the government and other organisations to support the youth to go into the construction sector.

Mrs Mills-Odoi said the organisation had created about 2,600 jobs for the youth in the country, since its establishment last year, and had a target to create more than 30,000 jobs within the next five years.

 

source:graphiconline