In November, the Federal Government will relaunch the Tradermoni initiative, with each beneficiary receiving N50,000 to support their business.
While the interest-free loan scheme for traders, which began in 2018, has been put on pause for some time, Mrs Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has stated that the government plans to resume it.
“Now, for the first set, which we are starting in November, we are selecting one big market per senatorial district,” she said, confirming that the idea had not been cancelled. That is 109 markets, and we are going into them to capture the traders in their stores.
Unlike the N10,000 granted to traders in previous phases, the beneficiaries now have more money.
“It’s N50,000 to support their businesses,” she said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“We are not interested in party lines, or any social or personal interest. We capture them in the market and then after doing so, we create a bank account just as they are being captured, and the monies are sent directly from the CBN account,” the minister noted.
According to her, it is a one-off interest-free loan with those who repay qualifying for another loan.
While dismissing claims that the programme is a political tool, the minister said elections are over, arguing that the present government is committed to making things better for Nigerians.
“Well, we don’t have elections right now. As we are starting, the Renewed Hope GEEP programme, we don’t have elections, we have Nigerians. Politics is over. We are facing governance. That’s what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is all about,” the minister added.
“Now, for the first set which we are starting in November, we selecting one big market per senatorial district. That is 109 markets.”
She equally said the conditional cash transfer policy of the government is set to return later in the month.
“With the approval from the President which we hope to get this week, on the 17th of October, we will be officially launching the conditional cash transfer to 15m households in Nigeria,” she added, noting that the government is cleaning up the social register for effectiveness.