By GABRIEL KATUHO
THE electoral Office of Port Moresby North West aims to put smiles on 4,000 womenfolk this Christmas with the launching of the Moresby North West Mama’s SME program.
Over 75 Mama’s SME group representatives within Port Moresby North West in Wards 1, 7,8,10 and 11 were present on Monday 27 December 2024 at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium to witness the launching of Moresby North West Mama’s SME program.
North West Mama’s SME will work in collaboration with Mama Bank, Mi Bank and Eliseo Wholesale to see their Small and Medium Entrepreneurial (SME) activities grow.
About 200 mothers representing an estimated four thousand women in Moresby North West witnessed the presentation of K700,000 as a Christmas present to the Port Moresby North West Mamas.
“So, what you have seen is K550,000 given to Mama bank. What we are giving depends on the size of the population of women in a particular ward, for instance, if you have 15 mamas, you have six to seven thousand kina each to work with,” Honourable Lohia Boio Samuel explained.
He said that the mama’s SME groups will have to put the money into good use, that is to say that they can be able to start-up small businesses.
The Member for Moresby North West Electorate said his District Administration will be working closely with CEO of Mama Bank Gunanidi Das and Misra, the Business Development Manager for Mama Bank in Port Moresby to allow mothers and womenfolk to access the funds for their SME projects.
Honourable Lohia Samuel said K140,000 was will be given to Mi Bank so that those who want to access funds there can do so as well.
Whilst making the financial commitment for the SME activities, he also stressed that Financial Literacy program is crucial for Mothers in SME and his Office will work with Mama Bank to carry out the awareness in that regard.
“We will be conducting a lot of these activities. Sometimes we tend to see ten or twenty thousand kina we just go and use it. But this time, we would like to encourage the mothers and womenfolk to go through the mama bank and be part of the process.”
“For example, for Ward 1, let’s say there is a United Church Fellowship Hall, we will get all the women there to conduct the Financial Literacy program in this venue,” he said.
He said for Gerehu, hopefully we could secure a location for the trainers and staff to roll out the program, and the same for other Wards.
“Next year we want to commit K1 million or more with the Mama Bank so that if a women’s group wants to go and get a loan of K20,000 to start a shop or any SME activity for that matter, that money provides a guarantee so you can be able to access it.”
The Member for Moresby North West also stressed for the need to be accountable in the use of the funds and to have the monies used for conducting business activities rather than using it for other purposes.
Meanwhile, Eliseo will also be supplying 40-foot containers to use as canteens for those who wish to start up a trade store business.
“So, with Eliseo’s involvement, the cash till is also connected to their computer system, so whatever is being purchased is automatically receipted and recorded and audited,” he explained.
“For new SME’s who are interested but are not part of it, we are going to commit a million kina so that they can go to Mama Bank and get the loans to get one of those containers and take part in tucker shop business,” he said.
