FG Begins Soft Loans Disbursement In Edo

The Federal Government under its micro-credit scheme, TraderMoni, has commenced the disbursement of soft loans to micro scale entrepreneurs in Edo State.

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo had in June announced the new scheme as a national social intervention programme targeted at low income earners.

Speaking during the event, an official of the Federal Government’s partnering agent, Generating Demand Marketing, Olawale Johnson, said the beneficiaries could receive up to N100,000 as loans from an initial sum of N10,000.

“Once the trader pays back the N10,000, he would get N15,000. The payment for the first stage is N85 per day; in a week it is N430.

According to him, the empowerment has been done in Niger, Anambra and Osun states. To register, a trader needs to provide his name, date of birth, address and phone number.”

Johnson explained that the traders that qualified for the programme would receive a text message and a four-digit personal identification number to enable the transfer of the fund to their bank accounts

The beneficiaries of the loans include traders and artisans drawn from different areas of the Benin metropolis.

Speaking with our reporter, one of the beneficiaries, Samuel Eweka, said, “I was at the National Museum in Benin when I heard about the scheme in September. So, I registered and got a text message.

He said instead of engaging in unlawful activities, the loan would enable him to start something small and build on it.