By Lyte Ali

Mangochi, April 17, Mana: National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) has said it was happy with percentage of loan repayment by communities in Mangochi, saying the district was currently surpassing the national loan repayment.

Speaking during a stakeholders meeting which was organized in Mangochi on Tuesday, Head of Finance at NEEF, Benedicto Kananza said out of over K4 billion that the institution disbursed to communities in Mangochi for the past three years, it has managed to collect 85 percentage of the loans.

He said following the development, in this current financial year, NEEF would disburse K4 billion to communities, with an aim to expand businesses and farming activities in the lake shore district.

‘‘We are impressed with how communities in Mangochi are responding on loans repayment, which is at 85 percent, surpassing the national loan repayment, currently at 70 percent.

‘‘As such, in this financial year alone, we are set to disburse K4 billion in the district, and our focus this year will include providing substantial loans for both businesses and farming activities, with a special emphasis on supporting winter irrigation farming to utilize the district's plentiful water resources," Kananza said.

He said their institution was facing difficulties in loan repayment by some people across the country, a development which was delaying them to empower other Malawians.

The Head of Finance urged stakeholders in Mangochi to continue paying back their outstanding loans' balances, in order to enable other people in the district to access loans.

Kananza added that, “The aim of us is to empower all Malawians economically, however, we are facing challenges when collecting loans repayment from others to extent that some of our staffs get beaten in the process.’’

‘This makes it difficult for us to operate, and at the same time prevents us from accessing back the loans balances.

Chairperson for Mangochi District Council, Councilor, Hassan Chikuta hailed NEEF for providing an opportunity to communities in the district, saying it has helped to uplift livelihoods of many households in Mangochi.

One of the stakeholders to the meeting, Golden Tebulo, expressed gratitude with the meeting saying it has been an eye opener on how loans are accessed at NEEF, and how to effectively utilize the resources.