Kwara Govt okays initiative to support 30,000 woman traders, says SSG

The Kwara Executive Council has approved a programme to empower at least 30,000 woman traders with a grant of N20,000 each over the next six months.

This is contained in a statement in Ilorin signed by the State Commissioner for Communications, Mr Olabode Towoju.

Towoju said the Secretary to the Kwara Government Prof. Mamman Jubril made this known while briefing the State Executive Council.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme is a social investment measure modelled after a World Bank initiative called:” Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP)”.

He said the programme which would be implemented under the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) while beneficiaries would cut across the 16 local government areas of the state.

“For stimulation of micro, small and medium scale locally-owned businesses, the agency (KWASSIP) deems it necessary to empower the women within the 16 LGAs of Kwara.

”This is another dimension towards ensuring that the women who ordinarily do not have access to financial facility are availed with financial support through the programme.

“It may interest council to note that this programme being domesticated and to be funded by the State Government is a replica of the World Bank project (Nigeria for Women Project).

”However, the state has applied to the World Bank to include Kwara among the beneficiary states in Nigeria in order to complement the efforts of the state government,” Jubril said.

Jubril also said the government will partner with MTN Nigeria (Mobile Money, MoMo) Service provider which has over 5,000 payment agents to allow for efficiency, transparency and easy disbursement to all the 193 wards in the state

He said the programme will gulp N658m and would have huge benefits on the micro-economic sector in the state.

The council meeting was chaired by Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq ,who said the administration remains committed to the plight of the downtrodden, including deepening financial inclusion.

The secretary said that KWASSIP, has implemented similar social safety programme, in Owo Isowo, Owo Arugbo, and Kwapreneur and has benefitted over 100,000 people in the last two years alone.

NAN reports that the NFWP is a strategic long-term partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the World Bank to support the government’s goal of ensuring gender equality.

The project’s design is the first of its kind to be implemented in Nigeria, through government and at scale supporting women groups.

This project will address barriers to women’s prosperity and build social assets for women’s economic participation which is critical for inclusive poverty reduction in Nigeria.

NAN also reports that the NFWP intends to achieve this by implementing, across multiple local contexts in Nigeria approaches that contribute to women’s economic outcomes and, through them, the well-being of individual households and communities

The implementation and roll-out will be phased, starting with six states across the geo-political zones (Abia, AkwaIbom, Kebbi, Niger, Ogun and Taraba) in Nigeria to allow for learning and iterations.

NAN reports that the five-year national intervention will guarantee improved livelihood opportunities for 324,000 women in Nigeria. (NAN)