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Federation, NOA to mobilise informal sector for FG empowerment programme

Published

5 years ago

September 2, 2021

The Federation of Informal Workers Organisation (FIWON) is to partner with the National Orientation Agency ( NOA) for the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme(GEEP) to assist small and micro business operators.

Mr Ibrahim Olayinka, FIWON State Coordinator, made this known to newsmen in Osogbo on Thursday.

The National Daily reports that GEEP is one of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) under the Office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

In it, non-collateral soft loans are given to traders, artisans and farmers for purposes of enhancing their living standards by expanding their businesses through funding by Bank of Industry (BoI).

Under GEEP are ”Tradermoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni”, where zero collateral loans, ranging from N10, 000 to N300, 000 are given to MSMEs operators, as part of poverty eradication efforts.

Olayinka NOA as one of the federal government’s key partners will raise awareness and adequately engage, mobilise and sensitize the informal sector on the GEEP.

He said GEEP offers Nigerian business operators free interest loans for their businesses and is repayable in six months.

Olayinka urged interested members of FIWON to go to their various local governments where NOA offices are domiciled to register for free.

Also speaking, the NOA Coordinator , Mr Abiodun Ibikunle , promised to strengthen the synergy between NOA and federation in the state .

The federal government on Aug. 8, signed a partnership with NOA in its quest to raise awareness for its NSIP.

thathe partnership entails NOA appointing Community Orientation and Mobilisation officers as GEEP Desk Officers in all the 774 local government local areas across the country.

These officers will sensitize communities on the GEEP programmes, register interested beneficiaries of TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni.

They will also collect and collate necessary data for the programme, provide necessary feedback to the programme coordinators at State and Federal Levels while also encouraging active participation of the programme.