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From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) 2.0 has officially flagged off in Imo State, heralding the disbursement of loans in all states.
This is as 4,144 beneficiaries from across the 27 Council areas of the state have been given free interest loans.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, launched the national phase of the programme at the Concorde Hotel Owerri on Saturday
The minister said during the presentation of Cheques to peasant farmers and petty business women, that the interest-free loans to beneficiaries were in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s avowed commitment to fight poverty and its devastating impact from all angles.
“The Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) is a programme designed by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to create further opportunities for the poor, vulnerable and low-income Nigerians, especially those who are involved in viable informal productive activities with limited financial requirements but have never had access to loans from the formal financial sector.
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Continuing, she said: “It is meant to give priority to the most vulnerable in our society like widows, youth, Persons With Disabilities and the Internally Displaced Persons amongst others”.
4,144 beneficiaries across the 27 Local Government Areas of the State were selected across the 27 LGAs of Imo State to benefit from the interest-free loans.
The Minister stated that the beneficiaries are verifiable while the selection process was transparently conducted.
“These selected beneficiaries are now all banked, they have been given ATM cards and are currently being enumerated all of which are our deliberate efforts to enhance financial inclusivity of our poor in a sustainable manner”.
The minister disclosed that GEEP 2.0 has three unique products:
Tradermoni loan of N50,000 is targeted at uplifting the underprivileged and marginalized youths between the ages of 18 – 40 yrs while. MarketMoni loan also of N50,000 is for the less – privileged and marginalized women like Widows, divorcees, and other vulnerable groups.
FarmerMoni loan of between N50,000 to N300,000 is designed for small-scale farmers in the communities to improve their agricultural productivity and inclusion in commercial farming.
