• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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GEEP MarketMoni extends no-interest loans to 12,712 Oyo traders

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Over 12,000 beneficiaries from Oyo State are now counting their gains from the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) MarketMoni interest-free loans.
The Federal Government disclosed this Tuesday at the state’s Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprise (MSME) Clinic, where Vice President Yemi Osinbajo interacted with over 2,500 of the beneficiaries in Ibadan.
Speaking at the event, Osinbajo said, “The President has directed the expansion of the GEEP MarketMoni loan to accommodate the least traders.” 
According to Osinbajo, It is “the hope of Mr President to broaden opportunities to every Nigerian by providing such loans such as the MarketMoni loans, TraderMoni, and the latest being the FarmerMoni to accommodate even the least trader.”
The loan is meant for every Nigerian who is willing to work, earn a living and at the same be a partner in the ongoing efforts at resuscitating the economy, the Vice President said.
Also speaking, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State noted the importance of MSMEs to the economy and lauded the Federal Government for its initiatives geared at bolstering the economy by empowering MSMEs.
Ajimobi said, “Small business is where prosperity begins because it is the live-wire of the economy,” saying the Federal Government must be commended not only for realising this, but also in reinforcing it through their great initiatives.
Atinuke Osunkoyo, commissioner for women affairs and focal person for Social Investment Programme in Oyo State, spoke on how the programme had helped women in the state.
“GEEP MarketMoni is helping women in Oyo State provide for themselves and family members, and the state government has been an inextricable partner to this Federal government scheme,” Osunkoyo said.
Toyin Adeniji, executive director, Financial Inclusion in Bank of Industry (Bol), said the GEEP MarketMoni was a self-sustaining programme that had come to stay.
“We have given out loans to thousands of people across the country. Recently we were in Edo to interact with beneficiaries, and we are doing the same today in Oyo State with over 12,000 beneficiaries.
“Between N10,000 to N100,000 is being disbursed specially for market women, traders, farmers,  who are in the lower cadre of financial inclusion in the country. We have even commenced another scheme known as TraderMoni which is targeted at those in the far remote ebb of financial inclusion,” she said.
GEEP MarketMoni loans are repayable in six months with 5 percent administrative charge. To ensure that the loan instalments are paid on time and conveniently, collections begin from the third week after loans are received. Beneficiaries also enjoy a two-week grace period.
The beneficiaries at the clinic, drawn from 169 market associations, lauded the government for the initiative.
Akindeinde Kehinde, a chalk dealer in Ibadan, said, “Before I got the GEEP MarketMoni loan, I used to produce 20 cartons of chalk, using one bag of POP. But with the GEEP MarketMoni loan, I now produce 100 cartons of chalk, using 15 bags of POP cement.”
A wood dealer, Dotun Dare, who said he did not have sufficient money to start his wood trade, said, “After collecting the GEEP MarketMoni loan, I now buy more than 40 pieces of wood for resale, and have even diversified into other businesses.”