Informal management course ends

FOURTEEN men and women engaged in informal sector businesses took a week-long business skill management training in Madang last week.
The small business skill management training was aimed at empowering grassroots economically by training them and offering small loans to venture into informal sector business.
Coordinator Alois Ulan said that by empowering people in small entrepreneurs could help alleviate poverty and increase standard of living.
He said getting loans from commercial banks was difficult for “simple people” with so many processes, but his organisation, called Micro-Market Mother credit, did not involve any difficult process.
He said he gave loans up to a maximum of K200 per person after completing the business management skills training and added that Foundation for Community Development had offered free trainings to the participants for the start.
Mr Ulan said 20% was charged for the loan and borrowers could repay the loan after one month.
He said there was no requirement to obtain a loan but they had to open a passbook account with Nation Wide Micro Bank so that they saved a little money from their sales.
He said the idea was to encourage them to work hard and make a difference for themselves.
Nine of 14 participants were women and some were from rural areas in Madang province.