Parliament yesterday approved a 7 million euro loan from the German KFW for the implementation of Ghana’s e- Zwich Rural Branchless Banking Project.
The loan agreement between the government and the KfW, Frankfurt AM Main, Germany was laid before the House on Tuesday, July, 12, 2011 and was referred to the Finance Committee of the House for consideration and report.
The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana tasked to implement a countrywide biometric payment system, popularly known as e- Zwitch.
The system allows the delivery of quality financial services to the people of Ghana, especially the unbanked and the under-banked.
The technology permits offline transactions and fingerprint recognition making it highly suitable for rural areas and for less educated people.
The strategy of the GhlPSS, known as the Rural Branchless Banking Project, is to deploy, in partnership with financial institutions, the e-Zwitch infrastructure in rural areas through networks of agents and merchants in order to make formal financial services available to all Ghanaian residents.
The facility, which would be provided, would operate as a Revolving Credit Fund (RCF) to financial institutions interested in deploying e-Zwitch infrastructure in rural areas through networks of agents of merchants.
According to the report of finance Committee the 7 million Euro loan would, therefore be used, to finance the RCF, which promises to be a strong incentive to support deployment of e-Zwitch in rural areas.
The terms of the loan include a grant of 500,000 Euros , 40 years repayment period and 10 years grace period.
It has a maturity period of 50 years, interest rate of 0.75 per cent and a maximum commitment fee of, 0.25 per cent.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr James Klutse Avedzi, laid the report before the House for deliberation.
Meanwhile two bills for the establishment of two universities were presented for their first reading on Parliament yesterday by the Minister of Education, Mrs. Betty Mould-lddrisu.
They are University of Energy and Allied Sciences Bill, 2011 and the University of Health and Natural Resources Bill, 2011.
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, who was in the chair referred the two bills to the Education Committee of the House for consideration and report.
While the University of Energy and Allied Sciences is to be established in the Brong Ahafo Region, the University of Health and Allied, Sciences is to be established in the Volta Region. In another development, two bills on health had gone through their second readings.
They are the Health Training and Research Bill and the Mental Health bill.
The Minister of Health, Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh, moved the motion for the second reading of the two bills while his motions were seconded by the Chairman of the Health Committee MubarakMuntaka.
Source;Daily Graphic
Date;24/08/2011
