Seidu Ramatu

Did you know that most women living in rural areas in Ghana, especially those with no educational background, do not have access to financial support to work their way out of poverty?

I will never forget Seidu Ramatu, a food vendor in Garu (a small village in the Upper East region of Ghana). She is 67 years old and has been a food vendor for 15 years. Ramatu is married to a husband who cannot work due to sickness from old age. This leaves Ramatu all alone with the burden of her family’s responsibilities. Unfortunately, she lost all her working capital during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a consequence of this, Ramatu needed financial assistance, however, because of her level of education this was unattainable. She became very worried as to how she would take care of her sick husband.

As a hardworking woman who cares very much about her sick husband and always wants to put a smile on his face, she resorted to selling charcoal, which was not generating enough income to pay for vital medication.

But it does not have to be this way. Women should be given the chance to have access to financial support, grow and start a business no matter their educational level. This is why C.A. Micro Credit is on a mission to provide easily accessible financial support to women so that: 'no bankable poor should be left behind.'

C.A. Micro Credit offered her a loan of GHS1,500.00 ($100.00) to restart Ramatu's food vendor business. Today, Ramatu makes about GHS800.00 ($54.00) income every month which is used to take care of her husband’s medication and buy food for her family. She has restored hope and happiness in her husband, which is improving her husband’s condition.

Hopefully, one day she will be able to grow her food vendor business into a restaurant, employ people to work and earn some income as well as take good care of her family.

To support the numerous women out there like Ramatu to achieve their dreams and support their families, we are planning to increase our loan size from GHS2000.00 ($150) to GHS5000.00 ($350) per client and our client base from 150 to 500 clients.