101,567 Beneficiaries Received N3.18bn COVID-19 Survival Fund – FG

The Federal Government on Tuesday announced that 101,567 beneficiaries have been paid a total of N3.18bn under its COVID-19 Survival Fund scheme.

Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Katagum, who disclosed this in Abuja, also noted that a white list of beneficiaries fully verified for disbursement and payments to the approved block of beneficiaries had commenced.

Katagum, who is Chairperson, Steering Committee on Survival Fund and Guarantee Off-Take Schemes, said disbursements in the white list had been approved for a total of 16,253 micro, small and medium enterprises accounting for a total of 101,567 beneficiaries.

Giving a breakdown on the disbursed N3.18bn, the minister said, “N30,000 was paid to each of the 94,696 employees/beneficiaries, while N50,000 was paid to each of the 6,871 employees/beneficiaries.”

According to her, 2.6 per cent of the beneficiaries are people with special needs, while 43 per cent of the total beneficiaries are women in line with the guidelines on disbursement.

The minister added, “The disbursements for payroll support commenced last Wednesday, November 18, 2020 and it is ongoing presently across the country.

“However, due to the inability of some states to meet their targets, the portal will be reopened to accommodate such states.”

She stated that other milestones achieved under this track was the verification for payment of 101,567 beneficiaries sourced from 16,253 businesses as of November 17.

“The distribution of beneficiaries across the country include Lagos, 25,000; Kano, 17,000; Abia, 16,000; and 13,000 for every other state,” Katagum stated.

She said the Artisan Track Scheme was being implemented in three streams and enumeration of prospective beneficiaries under the first stream commenced on October 1, 2020, as payments to beneficiaries in the stream had been approved.