The Federal Government said it has so far distributed a total of N20bn to two million petty traders across the country under its TraderMoni, a product under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), a microcredit social intervention programme.
In a tweet via his personal twitter handle on Tuesday morning, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, wrote: “I find it interesting that some people raise questions when it comes to helping the poor.
“No one asks questions when we bail out people who have mismanaged businesses.
“This administration has given 20 Billion to 2 Million petty traders and by God, we will do more!”
TraderMoni was created specifically for petty traders and artisans across Nigeria and is managed by the Bank of Industry (BoI).
Managers of the programme say modalities have been put in place to collect the loans, adding that “50% of the tradermoni loans have been paid back without any push. Six out of every 10 beneficiaries are keen about repayment of their loans in order to access higher loans.”
Details on the tradermoni website states that “it is a mobile phone-driven scheme introduced by the BoI to support businesses with collateral-free loans designed for petty traders across the country.”
To access the loan, a petty trader is required to approach any mobile money agent in his/her neighbourhood to capture his details and send to the BoI system for validation within 48 hours, after which the trader gets cash notification or credit alert on his mobile wallet account.