FG launches N10,000 collateral free loan for petty traders

The Federal Government has launched the Trader Moni empowerment programme, aimed at giving collateral free loans to petty traders, with 30,000 beneficiaries in Iwo, Osun State.

The empowerment programme, which would be paid by the Federal Government through the Bank of Industry (BOI), is one of the three micro-credit loan schemes under Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) scheme, one of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) of the Federal Government.

Performing the official launch on Monday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the loan would provide funds which would boost small-scale enterprises, petty trading and commercial activities across the country.

He added that at the first instance, the beneficiaries would be given a loan of N10,000 each, which would be repayable within six months, noting that any of the beneficiaries that pay back the loan within the stipulated period would qualify for another bigger amount of N15,000.

Read also: Nigeria, UK trade value hits £4.2bn yearly

“This programme is part of Social Empowerment Programme by President Buhari to discourage corruption in this nation and serve as a mean to help petty traders in the country.

“The policy of the federal government is to support businesses, not just big business but particularly small, medium-sized businesses and micro businesses. The whole idea is that we want to ensure that we give whatever support to people to alleviate their businesses,” the Vice President said.

Osinbajo added: “We will give them more as they begin to repay the N10,000. If they repay the N10,000, they will be given N15,000. And if that is repaid, they would be given N20,000 and so on like that.

“We want to empower the masses especially those who are not lazy; we have to empower them with loans to continue with their trades. That is what President Buhari’s government wants to do.”

Also speaking, the Executive Director of BOI, Toyin Adeniji, said the 30,000 beneficiaries of the Trader Moni Scheme, who would have access to the loans, were drawn from all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

In August, Prof. Osinbajo had said the Federal Government had concluded plans to extend the loan scheme to two million small-scale enterprises in the country by the end of the year.

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