Nsano Group was on Wednesday 19th June 2019, awarded a grant of $250,000 under the second phase of the Remittance Grant Facility (RGF) challenge.
The project is to support companies to develop affordable and accessible products and services that extend the scope of remittances to the rural areas as well as benefit Ghanaians in the diaspora.
The Remittance Grant Facility (RGF) was launched by the Governments of Ghana and Switzerland in May 2017. The $2.6 million fund financed by Switzerland through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, is to provide financial assistance to companies to develop innovative remittance products and services at a relatively low cost. The fund is also managed by KPMG International Development Advisory Services.
Mr. Sampson Akligoh, the Director of Financial Services at the Ministry of Finance, at a ceremony to present the cheques to the beneficiaries, said the objective of the facility was to reduce the cost of remittances and extend their reach to the rural poor as well as benefit Ghanaians in the diaspora.
He said the remittance market in the country faced challenges with a high cost of charges and accessibility. On 16th June 2019, the world marked the International Day of Family Remittances and noted that remittances had a direct impact on the lives of over 1 billion people all over the world. The remittance market in Ghana faces challenges of high cost of charges and accessibility.
To this end, Mr. Akligoh said the Remittance Grant Facility (RGF) provided grants to support the design and pilot testing of products and services that were affordable to target customers, encourage savings and investment.
He said the challenge would help address operational pitfalls associated with remittance flow channels into the country and to encourage innovative product and service development.
Mr. Daniel Lauchenauer, the Deputy Head of Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Ghana, said the initiative was to ensure that companies got funding to pursue projects that would help mitigate and increase challenges in the remittances market.
He said the partnership was necessitated by the long economic and diplomatic relationship with Ghana, adding that the Facility, when utilized effectively, would spur economic development in the rural areas and contribute to the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda.
Kofi Owusu-Nhyira, the Chief Executive Officer, Nsano Group, also commended stakeholders for selecting Nsano for the grant and pledged to continue to use the platform to address challenges in the remittances space and build the livelihoods of the poor.