My spouse Anne and I made a decision to go to Ghana after our pal from Minnesota invited us to journey together with her as she visited household again house. Neither of us had been to Africa earlier than, a lot much less any creating nation, however the urge to journey to a spot like Ghana has been with me ever since I started working with Wisconsin Microfinance over 10 years in the past throughout my undergraduate years at UW-Madison. Having accomplished fairly a little bit of journey to different worldwide locations in Europe, I used to be shocked to search out Ghana rather more chaotic and noisy than anticipated (notably the site visitors!), but additionally so welcoming and pleasant. The black star of Ghana symbolizes the emancipation of Africa in opposition to colonialism, and celebration of Pan-Africanism (unity of the continent in opposition to colonial oppression).
Whereas the consequences of colonialism are unquestionably nonetheless affecting the financial system and talent for Africa to thrive in worldwide markets, native Ghanaians maintain all positions of political energy and black tradition is alive and thriving within the streets of Accra and Cape Coast. Ghana has rapidly turn out to be one of many premier locations for vacationers wishing to go to West Africa, notably for a lot of African-People all for returning to the land the place their ancestors have been shipped out as slaves. Cape Coast Fortress serves as a monument and brutal reminder of the abject struggling and centuries of inhuman oppression that adopted the Trans-Atlantic slave commerce.
Nana Obokese Ampah, Chief of the group of Moree, brings us as much as a quiet constructing with a big walled courtyard shaded from the beating solar with a ravishing hand-made straw roof. Dwelling of his “Obokese Basis” and “Obokese College of Excellence”, that is the place Nana and his group work diligently to assist the close by group of Moree and the encircling areas by entrepreneurial, enterprise, instructional, and management lessons. On the ground is a big plaster-built curled-up tiger, and Nana sits on the throne chair together with his toes resting beneath him on a pillow.
The Chiefdom group is alive and nicely in Ghana. It exists as a well-respected establishment for group management, each by politicians in addition to frequent folks. The identify “Nana” is the Akan/Fante expression for the ruler or chief, and Nana Obokese is the regional ruler of the group of Moree, a sprawling city simply exterior of Cape Coast within the historic Asebu area. Moree and the encircling areas has a inhabitants of over 100,000 folks, and is house to the historic Fort Nassau, the primary Dutch buying and selling submit established within the early 17th century for participating within the slave commerce.
Right this moment Moree is house to a bustling fishing financial system, with Nana Obokese himself to thank for a lot of latest rebranding efforts to be often known as the “Metropolis of Gentle”. Driving into the city as evening begins to fall, we come to a roundabout with a big bronze statue of Farnyi Kweigya, acclaimed “father of fishing”, holding a big fish.
As we stroll by the dust streets, clouds of smoke pour into the open air of the rows of tin-roofed homes. Nana has taken us right here to look at the ladies smoking right this moment’s catch, preserving the fish for future cargo inland to markets in Kumasi and Accra. The financial system and society of Ghana’s Akan folks is inherently matriarchal, the place girls make lots of the monetary choices within the household and switch property and inheritance rights.
We speak to some girls who present us how they wash and smoke the fish, which have been caught that day and positioned into the “chilly storage” till they’re able to smoke.
Different enterprise actions locally additionally focus on fishing, together with the distribution of “premix” gas and the mending of fishing nets. Nonetheless, additionally it is a group that wants primary providers like meals and beverage distribution, hair styling and vogue, and social providers.
By making Wisconsin Microfinance loans accessible, Moree will have the ability to deal with many infrastructure issues together with sanitation, flooding, road lights and highway networks. There’s a robust demand for these microfinance loans, which is able to inject a lot wanted capital into the financial system of Moree. Nana Obokese defined that he has an obligation to assist the residents of his group, whose issues usually middle across the lack of cash. If any individual will get harm and desires surgical procedure, there are little assets accessible as a result of most individuals don’t have a financial savings funds accessible. Extra capital circulating locally will ease this burden and make bigger infrastructure initiatives accessible. A lot of the development initiatives in Ghana occur with out capital advances like mortgages or development loans. Because of this, development on properties and buildings solely occurs when a sum of cash turns into accessible as revenue, and investing in development of their property is a method to solidify these belongings.
Nana Obokese is dedicated to creating Moree right into a vibrant group. He firmly believes in the identical ideas of microfinance that Wisconsin Microfinance advocates for, reminiscent of lending teams, low rates of interest, and loans primarily to girls. His spouse Sarah is a specialist in finance on the native Assinman Rural Financial institution in Cape Coast.
Anne and I had an opportunity to sit down down with Sarah to debate the main points of the Wisconsin Microfinance program. Loans are presently accessible for the poor at this financial institution department, nonetheless they’re required to cost a better rate of interest than what we might have the ability to provide with Wisconsin Microfinance. As well as the mortgage purposes at this financial institution are on the person stage – by utilizing lending teams Wisconsin Microfinance will have the ability to depend on group social strain to supply loans to folks with much less credit score historical past. We will depend on Sarah’s experience to manage the mortgage program in Moree.
We completed our go to with Nana by receiving a present from him – a historic wood statue of a lady holding a basket on her head. It is a present for Tom Eggert, president of the board at Wisconsin Microfinance, to represent the partnership between our organizations.
Nana then took us to a photograph studio to attempt on some conventional Ghanaian clothes, a celebration of our appreciation for Ghanaian tradition and a enjoyable method to finish our go to.
The necessity for capital in Ghana is nice, and by concentrating on the group of Moree as the subsequent vacation spot for a Wisconsin Microfinance program we shall be forging a robust partnership that can hopefully function a template for future Wisconsin Microfinance applications in Ghana and elsewhere on the African continent.
