A South African-based Pan-African financial services group, Blue Financial Services has launched its services in Ghana with an assurance to provide short-term unsecured micro-loans to individuals and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. Johan Meiring, Group CEO of Blue Financial Services, told Adom News the group has presence in 12 countries across Africa and offers varied services in each country. He said the group gives unsecured loans including home loans, home improvement loans, personal loans, mobile loans, full transactional banking services, SMEs loans, business development loans, insurance products and a special product call CashXpress, which gives customers access to cash within 20 minutes of applying. “But we want to start in Ghana with unsecured thirty-day loans, three months loans and 12 months loans for starters and when we see the need for some of our other products in Ghana, we will expand,” he said. An information flyer from Blue Financial Services said loans are given at an interest rate of 25 per cent per month. Mr. Meiring said individual loan applicants would need to present three latest original payslips, three latest original bank statements, an ID card and proof of at least 12 months’ employment. He said applicants should be between the ages of 18 and 65 years old, have a minimum monthly salary of GHC400 and be ready to make a full repayment in one month. “We chose Ghana because of the impressive economic growth rate of the country and the reputation it has within the international community as one of the best business destinations in Africa,” he said. Deputy Minister of Finance, Fiifi Kwetey expressed the hope that banks and financial institutions will take advantage of the low inflation and reduce their interest rates to allow SMEs access to more credit. A representative of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) assured Blue Financial Services of the Central Bank’s continuous support “provided you observe the rules and regulations.” Story by: Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona