The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that it would re-launch the TraderMoni scheme in November 2023, to provide support for small business owners in Nigeria.
In contrast to previous phases where small business owners received N10,000 from the previous administration, each beneficiary will now receive a larger sum of N50,000 to boost the growth of their business.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Beta Edu. She said,
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“Now for the first set, which we are commencing in November, we are selecting one prominent market per senatorial district, totaling 109 markets. We will actively engage traders within their shops in these markets.
“It’s a substantial N50,000 to bolster their businesses. We are not influenced by party affiliations or personal interests. We enroll them in the market, simultaneously creating a bank account for them during the enrolment, and the funds are directly transferred from the CBN account”.
Minister Betta further clarified that the re-launch of Tradermoni is not in any way politically motivated, emphasizing that the present administration is dedicated to improving the lives of Nigerians.
In her words,
“Well we don’t have elections right now. As we initiate the Renewed Hope GEEP Program, we are focused on governance, not politics. This is the essence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership”.
The TraderMoni Scheme
TraderMoni is a Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) Initiative created to boost the Nigerian economy through leverage and access to finance for petty traders.
The objective of this program is to provide small loans to small business owners or artisans, groups that usually cannot access loans or credit through banks and traditional financial institutions.
The TraderMoni scheme is one of the arms of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) initiated by the Federal Government of Nigeria on the platform of its National Social Investment Programme.
The GEEP was initiated in May 2016, to provide zero-collateral soft loans to traders, artisans, and farmers, aiming to improve their standards of living by expanding their businesses.
The two other arms of the GEEP are the MarketMoni and FarmerMoni, schemes targeted at market women and farmers respectively.
The scheme is handled by the Bank of Industry which uses its management software to validate loan applications. The loan is paid within 48 hours to a mobile wallet account, that can be cashed out.
Tradermoni has been criticized by some Nigerian citizens and political analysts, who stated that the motive is politically influenced, however, the program offers an alternative for small business owners in Nigeria looking for business loans to fund their businesses.