In consolidation of the Buhari Presidency’s Social Investment Programmes (SIPs), the Federal Government has so far disbursed 23,400 loans to beneficiaries in 13 states & Federal Capital Territory under the Government’s Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
The States are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Lagos, Osun and Ogun. Others are Oyo, Ondo, Rivers and the FCT.
The Micro-credit scheme is a no-interest loan scheme, with only a one-time 5% administrative fee for costs. The loan is targeted at micro-enterprises: traders, artisans, market men and women, entrepreneurs, farmers with the involvement of cooperatives and executed through the Bank of Industry, BOI.
Although over 23,000 people have benefited from the loans, altogether, over 1 million people have already enrolled for the programme across the country and are expected to benefit this year.
To facilitate the loan disbursement, four payment providers have been signed-on for the programme mostly in the urban areas. The next wave of payment providers, coming on stream by March 2017, would provide a much wider coverage in the rural areas.
Equally, about 8,436 market associations and cooperatives nationwide have been registered for this scheme through the web portal (www.boi.ng/market), as well as through paper application forms.
The loans range from N10,000, to N100,000 per applicant. While the loans would be paid directly to individuals, they are expected to belong to registered associations and/or cooperatives as the case may be, to ensure that they are peer-endorsed as credible, and to facilitate timely repayments. All beneficiaries must have BVNs and bank accounts.
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President
Office of the Vice President
January 30, 2017
Source: Aso Rock Villa