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Not less than 30,000 Abians will benefit from the on-going MarketMoni of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), a social intervention programme aimed at reinvigorating the economy at the base of the pyramid perceived to be the hotbed of Nigeria’s financially vulnerable.
MarketMoni is a programme designed by the Federal Government to grant interest-free credit facilities to existing microenterprises of market women and traders, artisans, youth entrepreneurs and agricultural workers.
The scheme of the National Social Investment Office is an initiative targeted at expanding the scope and scale of economic opportunity for the financially vulnerable.
The Federal Government is executing MarketMoni, through the Bank of Industry (BoI), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, in partnership with the States.
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At the launch of the scheme in Abia State at the weekend, Uzoma Nwagba, chief operating officer of GEEP, revealed that the BoI has disbursed about 2,907 loans to people in Abia State, which amounted to N146 million. He said that additional 4,946 loans, amounting to N234 million was disbursed on Friday, October 20 2017, taking the total BoI GEEP loan disbursements so far to N380 million for 7,000 Abians.
Nwagba, stated that the Federal and State Governments are serious about the scheme and revealed further that 30, 000 Abians would benefit from the scheme, before the end of 2017.
He said: “This is just the beginning of the work we are going to do in this State. It is a very important project for us, for the Federal and State Governments and you can see it in the enthusiasm and the drive of the wife of the State Governor to ensure that it succeeds in the State.
“We are very serious about this. We want to disburse 30,000 loans in 2017 in Abia State”.
He advised interested entrepreneurs, especially petty traders to register with any registered cooperative societies in their area, through which they can apply for the loan.
He also explained that loan applicants must have valued bank accounts and BVN, saying “As long as you qualify for the loan, you will receive it. We are just starting and it is a commitment the Federal Government has made and the Minister of Trade and Investment is driving and of course the office of the vice president, represented by Tola Johnson is driving very hard”.
GODFREY OFURUM, UMUAHIA
