The Project Supervisor, Federal Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Mr. Adebowale Bakare, has said that about 40,000 petty traders in Ebonyi are to receive N10, 000 soft loan each under the programme.
Bakare who made the disclosure on Monday in Abakiliki during the launch of the programme at the Abakpa Market, said that the programme was targeting between 30, 000 and 40,000 traders in the state to benefit from the facility designed to empower petty traders across the country in collaboration with the Bank of Industry.
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He said: “The programme facilitated by the Generating Demand Management Group (GDM) was designed to empower petty traders with at least N10, 000 each to improve their businesses. The accounts are already profiled by the GDM,” adding that the collateral-free loan was initiated “to grow the economy and reduce poverty through micro-enterprise development.”
According to him, the beneficiaries had been captured with their businesses in the GDM database since two months ago. They have between three and six months to repay the loan with a minimal interest of N250 on the principal, he said.