BoI targets farmers, others in N140bn micro loan scheme

A window of opportunity to access a total of N140 billion in soft loans without stress is now open to young farmers, traders, artisans and cooperatives at the Bank of Industry (BoI).
The loan scheme which is a Federal Government initiative tagged: “Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), is designed to promote financial inclusion for the less privileged in the society.

Mr. Waheed Olagunju, ag. MD, BoI

Acting Managing Director of BoI, Mr. Waheed Olagunju, who disclosed this at the launching of the programme on Tuesday in Lagos, said the Federal Government introduced the scheme to aid sustainable business growth and empowerment of micro-entrepreneurs.

Olagunju said N140 billion will be disbursed to micro-entrepreneurs as soft loans under the scheme, which is one of the social intervention programmes of the Federal Government being executed by the bank.

“Through GEEP’s MarketMoni product, government seeks to promote financial inclusion and access to credit for 1.6 million market traders, artisans, cooperatives, youth and farmers.
BoI Building
“MarketMoni is a microcredit loan, easy to access between N10,000 to N100,000 and repayable in six months.

“The idea is to make the loan easily accessible and affordable to the beneficiaries provided the beneficiary has a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and belong to a market association.
“Basically, it is a loan that is affordable with no interest rate, except for administrative fee, which is five per cent flat.

“That means, if you take N20, 000 loan you will repay N21, 000 at the end of six months.
“The beauty is that it is a weekly repayment so it is easy for the beneficiary,” he said.


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