The initiative, dubbed the Community Enterprise and Livelihood Fund (CELF), is the brainchild of Mr. Masawudu Mubarick, Deputy Director of the Ghana Maritime Authority. 

It seeks to provide financial support to market women, traders, artisans, and youth entrepreneurs who have long faced challenges in accessing affordable capital to sustain and expand their businesses. 

The fund also targets start-ups within the informal sector, whose growth prospects are often constrained by limited access to finance. 

At the launch ceremony, about 200 entrepreneurs each received a cheque of GHS2,000 to either start new businesses or expand existing ones. 

Speaking at the event, Mr. Mubarick said financial constraints remained a major hurdle for individuals seeking to establish small and medium-scale enterprises, particularly within the informal sector. 

He noted that despite various government interventions to promote entrepreneurship, many informal sector operators continued to struggle to access adequate and affordable financial support. 

Mr. Mubarick explained that the CELF initiative was interest-free and designed to promote community-driven accountability, ownership, and responsibility among beneficiaries. 

He said a key feature of the programme was its sustainable revolving fund model, which allows funds to circulate within the community to ensure long-term impact. 

Beyond financial assistance, he said the initiative also provides financial literacy training and business development support to enable beneficiaries to manage and grow their enterprises sustainably. 

Mr. Mubarick observed that for many years, small-scale business owners had been marginalised from the formal financial system and forced to rely on high- interest loans. 

The CELF initiative, he said, sought to address this gap by providing zero-interest micro-loans tailored to the needs of grassroots entrepreneurs. 

Several beneficiaries expressed appreciation to Mr. Mubarick for the intervention and pledged to utilise the funds responsibly for their intended purposes.