As the surge of the pandemic continues to pose difficulty to business activities globally, Bishop Nimely Jacbokly Donyen recently provided L$3,901,000 to several marketers in district #2, Montserrado County, as microloans.
The microloan program was initiated by the Clergyman, in partnership with an American-based non- governmental organization (NGO), Compassion for Life, to help marketers improve their businesses in the Township of Johnsonville and other areas.
Marketers who benefited from the Clergyman’s latest gesture were from the following markets: Jedepo Marketing Association of Monrovia, L$187,000; Mount Barclay Market, L$103,400; Wein Town Market, L$270,915; Dorrobo & Gbanken Marketing Association of Monrovia, L$L$385,000; Peace City Market, L$308,000; 5 small markets, L$227,050; Kpelleh Town Junction Market, L$660,000; and Up Town Market, L$440,000.
Speaking to the elated marketers recently in the Red Hill Community, Bishop Nimely Jacbokly Donyen appreciated God for giving him the opportunity to restart the microloan program, emphasizing that the loan is not intended for political purpose. He urged the beneficiaries to do their businesses with it and repay it.
He explicitly said that no political string is attached to the money, and that the eligibility criterion for the loan is the ability of the borrower to pay back in time because other marketers have also expressed interest in becoming a part of the program.
According to the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia (ICCL), the money does not belong to government; he appealed to donors to sponsor the microloan program because they are also assisting business people in other countries. As such, he is under obligation to give account of the funds.
“If I want to be a politician and I loaned you the money, it is not intended to purchase your votes but for it to help move your businesses to another level; therefore, you must pay it back,” he urged the marketers.
Bishop Donyen further stated that he attended a donor conference in the United States of America (USA) in 2019, explaining that the donors commended him, along with Liberia, for cultivating the repayment of loans. So he encouraged the marketers to continue to make their payment good because, according to him, as they repay the loan individual amounts progressively increases.
Since Bishop Donyen started the microloan program, marketers who have been benefitting for more than two years have been giving success stories relative to the manner in which their businesses are improving as the result of the loan.
Beneficiaries of the latest loan expressed excitement as they received the fourth batch, describing it as a stimulating factor to their businesses.
The Superintendent of the Up Town Market, Cecelia Kortee, praised the clergyman and his partners for providing the loan, saying most of the marketers used to do what she called “sell-pay”: they take the goods and pay the owner after selling them. But now that they are financially potent, they are not crediting goods any longer.
“Some of our colleagues have small shops, while others travel to China, Guinea and other countries to buy their goods,” she disclosed.
The Superintendent of the Dorrobo Marketing Association in Monrovia, Solomon Nyensoirwah, told the marketers to be focused and consider the money as their own, because the interest rate of ten percent is very low as compared to the rate being offered by banking institutions. He maintained that the loan has actually impacted their businesses, so they should be appreciative and work harder in order to repay the loan in time.