The Federal Government has
launched the special enterprise and empowerment programme otherwise known as
TraderMoni in three additional markets in Lagos, with an assurance that the
scheme would be extended to two million beneficiaries by December 2018 across
the country.
The TraderMoni scheme, which is a
collateral and interest-free loan for petty traders, had earlier been launched
in some markets in Lagos, while three additional markets in the State – Ketu,
Bariga and Oshodi were added to the scheme by Vice President, Professor Yemi
Osinbajo (SAN), accompanied by Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and
the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate in the State,
Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The trio, while inspecting
implementation of the scheme, took time to interact with petty traders in the
markets, assuring that government would continue to come up with innovative
initiatives to benefit the critical mass of the population.
Giving details, Senior Special
Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, said
close to 800,000 petty traders had so far benefited from the scheme, adding
that the programme had been structured for traders to borrow up to N50,000 and
repay back seamlessly.
He said the TraderMoni scheme was part of
the socio-investment programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration
and the plan was to ensure that between September and December this year, two
million petty traders receive the first payment of N10,000.
He said Once they are able
to return it within six months, they get additional N15,000 and when they
return that, they get another N20,000 until they get as much as N50,000.
He said that at the end of the
first batch, the government would take it further to ensure that more traders
benefit from the scheme.
