Three local lending agencies have disbursed a total of US$1.983 million in loans to 101 clients under the Medium and Small Enterprise Development (MSED) credit guarantee arrangement with the Small Business Bureau since the inception of the scheme in 2014, according to information made available to the Stabroek Business.
The largest lender of the three, Republic Bank Ltd (RBL), disbursed a total of US$1,029,661 to 75 borrowers, while the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) disbursed US$951,171.91 to 24 borrowers.
The Institute for Private Enterprise Development disbursed loans totalling US$2,663.44 to two borrowers between 2014 and last year. A critical focus of the credit guarantee facility provided by the Small Business Bureau is job creation in the beneficiary businesses and according to the Bureau the entities benefiting from the loans, created 450 jobs during the period with the RBL loans accounting for 321 jobs, while the GBTI, through its lending, supported the creation of 124 jobs. Loans disbursed by IPED facilitated the creation of five jobs.
Meanwhile, the bureau’s figures indicate that its own project interventions for 2016/2017, so far have facilitated 450 loans and 297 grants as well as facilitated 747 jobs.
During last year, the bureau approved 63 loans valued at $237 million at interest rates of 6% compared with 24 and 12 loans in 2015 and 2014, respectively.
A breakdown of the loans disbursed to date by the bureau indicate that the primary beneficiary sectors targeted for the bureau’s support have been the professional and business services sector which secured $77,100,505, the low-carbon manufacturing sector which has netted $54,572,000, the low-carbon, agro-processing sector with $50,452,000, the eco-tourism sector which received $49,995.000 and fruits and vegetables farming which received $32,329,757.
Sixty-three men and 35 women were recipients of loans.
The bureau has said that it is targeting the disbursement of around 96 loans valued some $200 million this year and that it hopes to have an additional financial institution come on board in 2017.
Under the bureau’s grant scheme, a total of 73 grants valued $21 million were approved for last year of which $14.97 million were disbursed as at January 1, this year. Overall, a total of 234 grants valued at $69.1 million have been disbursed since the project’s inception.
The bureau said, meanwhile, that during last year, under the MSED programme, a total of $158 million were spent on training more than 1,300 persons who were exposed to areas that include “business management and technical skills development sessions, across various sectors.” The training programme facilitated sponsorship for three clients to attend training and orientation programmes overseas.
The bureau said that this year it will focus on delivering specialized training aimed at orienting beneficiaries in best practices in specific sectors including sustainable mining, forestry, soap and skin lotion manufacturing and cosmetology. Training will also focus on accessing persons in areas who have limited access to exposure, including Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
Last year, training funded by the bureau embraced a range of disciplines including Climate Smart Agriculture, Business Management, Design Graphics, Fabric Design, Floral Decoration, Food Safety and Shelf Life Improvement, Leathercraft, Market Research and Repair and Maintenance of Small Equipment.
The bureau said that it will be in a position to confirm allocations based on priorities identified after procedures are completed for the drawing down of the first tranche of MSED project funding for this year from the Inter-American Development Bank.
A total of US$1.7 million remains to be drawn down from the US$5 million originally allocated for the project.
