Enthusiasm rented the air as Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo takes TraderMoni scheme to Utako market in Abuja. Excited traders cheered and hailed as the Vice President went from stall to stall, having one-on-one conversations with the sellers within the market.
The scheme, according to Osinbajo, is to empower petty traders, saying the Federal Government is willing to do more should Nigerians leverage on the initiative to boost the economy.
“We want to encourage petty traders so that they will have enough money to do their businesses; we have done one before for the bigger traders, that one is Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), N100,000 to 120,000.
“If you do well with the N10,000, N15,000, N20,000, then we can increase it; everyone can benefit from this; the president himself has said he wants to make sure that those who are selling in the market – selling pepper, sugarcane, tomato – get the money.” – Osinbajo
Recall that residents of Osun State had benefited from the scheme.
What Trader Moni initiative is all about
The soft loan scheme is aimed at funding micro businesses in the country. Trader Moni is meant to help very small scale traders easily get loans without collateral in Nigeria for the purpose of expanding their small businesses.
Trader Moni enables artisans, street hawkers, and petty traders to have access to loan facilities from N10,000 in order to boost their businesses.
The initiative was launched under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI).
Unlike the existing GEEP Market Moni loan scheme, which targets market women, traders, artisans, and enterprising youths, TraderMoni is a micro-credit scheme to cater for ultra-micro enterprises.
The initiative which has started nationwide is bid to support 2 million Nigerians to grow their business by having access to loan irrespective of their status or level of education.
Since its launch, the initiative has covered Osun, Kano, Abia and Akwa Ibom States.
Recall that the FG’s Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) MarketMoni interest-free loan scheme successfully reached over 300,000 beneficiaries in all 36 states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital City.
The loans range between N10,000 and N100,000.
GEEP MarketMoni is a Social Intervention Programme (SIP) of the Nigerian government, executed by the BOI, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
Beneficiaries of this scheme must belong to an accredited market association or cooperative group registered with their state’s Corporate Affairs Commission.
