President Muhammadu Buhari has announced that 101,567 beneficiaries, drawn from 16,253 businesses, received their first monthly payment from the Payroll Support Program yesterday.

This information was disclosed in a tweet by the official Twitter handle of the President.

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I am pleased to announce that 101,567 beneficiaries drawn from 16,253 businesses today received their first monthly payment from our Payroll Support Program. The program is a @SurvivalFund_ng Covid-relief initiative to support qualifying MSMEs with staff salaries for 3 months.

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) November 18, 2020

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The President also disclosed that the program is an initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that Nigerian MSMEs survive, as the Federal Government supports qualifying MSMEs with staff salaries for 3 months.

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Why this matters

The stimulus package would go a long way to assist businesses in averting massive job loss or a crash of the business enterprise. The fund is expected to place affected businesses, which are beneficiaries of this fund, on the path of survival and sustainable growth.

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What you should know

In July, Nairametrics reported that the Federal Government had announced plans to roll out a N2.3 trillion stimulus package and survival fund for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to stay afloat amid the economic challenges imposed by the pandemic.

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The stimulus package, which is under the National Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), includes payroll support for three months and guaranteed off-take schemes, among others.

A month ago, Nairametrics reported that 70,000 businesses in Nigeria had been shortlisted from the 432,000 businesses that applied for the Payroll Support from the Federal Government’s Survival Fund Grant Scheme.

Development Bank of Nigeria has disbursed over N150 billion since 2017 through twenty-seven (27) participating financial institutions, impacting close to 100,000 MSMEs through the process.

This is according to a disclosure by the Government of Nigeria, as seen by Nairametrics.

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What you should know

A verified tweet by the Government revealed that in 2019, 52% of the loans disbursed by the Development Bank of Nigeria were to youths and women-owned businesses.

#DYK 52% of loans disbursed by @DevBankNG in 2019 were to youths and women-owned businesses. Since 2017, the Bank has disbursed more than N150 billion through 27 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), impacting close to 100,000 MSMEs: https://t.co/DD6bn1t8u2

— Government of Nigeria (@NigeriaGov) November 17, 2020

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What they are saying

The Government of Nigeria tweeted “#DYK 52% of loans disbursed by @DevBankNG in 2019 were to youths and women-owned businesses. Since 2017, the Bank has disbursed more than N150 billion through 27 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), impacting close to 100,000 MSMEs.”

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Why it matters

The recent disclosure is in line with the present regime’s drive to diversify the economy and expand opportunities for youths and women, bridging the social exclusion gap, and ensuring prosperity for all.

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The efforts by the Development Bank of Nigeria complements other social programmes introduced by the government and targeted towards Youths and Women, such as the Special Grant to Rural Women, Nigeria Youth Investment Fund, National Young Farmers Scheme, amongst others.

The Federal Government has commenced the disbursement of the N20,000 special grant to women in rural areas of Gombe state.

This is according to a verified tweet by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, as seen by Nairametrics.

Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported the flag-off of the special grant project for rural women, initiated by the Federal Government, which will see over 700,000 women empowered with N20,000 each.

What they are saying

Commenting on the latest development, the verified tweet reads thus:

“MAKE GOOD USE OF THE CASH GRANT”– Umar Faroq tells Rural Women.

“The HM @FMHDSD @Sadiya_faroq has urged rural women in Gombe state to use the one-off cash grant given to them by the federal government to improve the lives of their families.”

MAKE GOOD USE OF THE CASH GRANT- Umar Farouq tells Rural Women.

The HM @FMHDSD @Sadiya_farouq has urged rural women in Gombe state to use the one-off cash grant given to them by the federal government to improve the lives of their families. https://t.co/W2y9x3mzyE pic.twitter.com/ZdGZ3fXhOy

— Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs (@FMHDSD) November 12, 2020

What you should know

The rural women’s programme was introduced in 2020 by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s social inclusion and poverty reduction agenda.

It includes the realization of the national aspiration of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

The Grant for Rural Women is designed to provide a one-off grant to some of the poorest and most vulnerable women in rural Nigeria.