Region Eight women latest WOW beneficiaries

Since its official launch in June 2010, the Women of Worth (WOW) micro-credit scheme has significantly changed the lives of countless single mothers in Guyana, providing them with the necessary wherewithal so that they could elevate their economic circumstances, and improve the lives of their children and by extension add to the advancement of Guyana.

This scheme, which is the result of an agreement made between the Government through the Finance Ministry and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), was today extended to Region Eight.
Addressing the women at launching ceremony at the Mahdia Community Center, Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir said that the introduction of a single parent assistance programme and the development of a micro-credit scheme was a promise by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in 2006.
The led to the development of single parent database of about 33,000 people, primarily women who registered in 2008.
These persons requested different forms of assistance; 1100 working single parents were beneficiaries of daycare vouchers, 1800 women requested to be trained in various disciplines of which 800 were recipients of such training by the end of 2010 and this micro-credit scheme which has seen the disbursement of 813 loans (a total value of $164M) thus far.
In 2010, Government passed the Fiscal Enactment (Amendment) Bill which amended the Income Tax Act and the Corporation Tax Act, to give effect to a waiver of tax on income of a designated small business lending company derived from loans provided to a small business in a manner specified by agreement.
It allows for the establishment for small business lending programmes with designated small business lending companies (licensed financial institutions) and permits the exemption of income tax or corporation tax from the income that is earned from the lending companies on the loans granted under the programme.
As a result, GBTI can now offer this loan plan at a low rate of interest of a mere six percent per annum and, for sums over $200,000 there is a six-month moratorium of repayments and sums under $200,000 a three-month moratorium on repayment will be granted.
The maximum period for repayment is 24 months and no collateral is required for the access to WOW financing.

“This is how we thought we could make a greater contribution towards you realising your dreams and there is not a woman in Guyana who cannot achieve what she sets out to do,” Minister Nadir posited.
He stated that the Ministry has the capacity to assist the various women’s group in the region with regards to training in Information Technology, cosmetology, and catering among others. He explained the possibility of having trainers from the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI) visit the region to work with them.
GBTI Credit Manager, Sheliza Shaw said that the WOW loan provides a medium through which the bank is able to assist single parent mothers in overcoming the difficulties they face in their daily lives in raising their families and in elevating themselves out of poverty. GBTI is targeting over 5000 women under this programme.
“No equity is required on your part and the bank provides 100 percent of the amount you need to establish, upgrade or expand your small business,” Shaw said.
Business Development Manager, WOW Secretariat, Wemyss de Florimonte, explained that the scheme is extended to single women who have children (biological or otherwise) and are between the ages of 18 and 58 years.
Regional Chairman, Region Eight, Senor Bell urged the women to make full use of the opportunity and pledged the support of the regional administration to ensure that the programme is successfully implemented.
Since the bank does not have a branch in Region Eight, it will be partnering with the Post Office so as to facilitate the repayment process.
Additionally, GBTI will be working out ways and means through which women from remote areas in the region can benefit from the programme.