FG to Resume TraderMoni in November with N50,000 Interest-free Loan
The Federal Government is gearing up to reintroduce the TraderMoni scheme in November, with a promise to provide each beneficiary with N50,000 Interest-free loan to bolster their businesses. The interest-free loan program, initially launched in 2018, had gone dormant for a while. However, Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, clarified that it has not been discontinued.
Edu revealed the revival of the scheme and outlined the plan:
“Now, for the first set, which we are starting in November, we are selecting one big market per senatorial district, totaling 109 markets. We are going into the markets, capturing the traders in their shops.”
In a departure from the earlier phases where traders received N10,000, this relaunch aims to provide more substantial support, with beneficiaries set to receive N50,000 to boost their businesses. Edu made this announcement during her appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
To ensure transparency and efficiency, she explained;
“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.”
She emphasized that this is a single, interest-free loan, and individuals who repay it are eligible for another loan. Edu firmly dismissed claims that the program is a political tool, underlining that elections have concluded, and the current government’s focus is on improving conditions for Nigerians. She stated,
“Well, we don’t have elections right now. As we are starting the Renewed Hope GEEP program, 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.”
Additionally, she mentioned that the government’s conditional cash transfer policy is set to resume later this 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 15 million households in Nigeria,”
She stated, highlighting the government’s commitment to improving the efficiency of the social register.
