The Nation Newspaper

Tag: micro-credit scheme

  • Adamawa introduces micro-credit scheme for informal sector

    The Adamawa State Government has introduced a micro-credit scheme to accommodate the needs of the informal sector, its Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ahmad Sajoh, has said.

    Speaking at a forum in Abuja on Wednesday, Sajoh said: “We have an empowerment programme, we call it `Bindo for Social Change’ and it involves a micro-credit scheme, and that micro scheme is supposed to identify people who are productive within the informal sector.

    “We want to re-organise the informal sector because for a very long time, we have neglected the informal sector in this country; we were dealing with just the formal sector. But the man who buys just one `damy’ of sugarcane, prepares and pushes it in the wheel barrow is doing something productive; people have neglected him.”

    The Commissioner also said the woman who prepares dawadawa or kulikuli, the blacksmith, the carver who caves the pestle and the mortar; are people who have been neglected, but are contributing to the economy. “We say, lets prepare and give them small loan that will change their lives and see if they can develop a productive mechanics that have a value chain,” he explained.

    He stated that the government, through the scheme, would create a value chain for the informal sector, so that the economy could be driven from that level. According to him, those who would benefit from the scheme would fill a form, which would be signed by the ward head.

    Sajoh added that this would authenticate the true identity of the beneficiaries and the business the individual is into, so that money would not be collected by the wrong people and thereby short change the government.

    His words: “If you fill the form, it must be signed by the `mai angwa’ who will authenticate that you live in that area and that you do that business you claim you are doing. He takes the form to the village head, who will authenticate mai angwa signature by signing on that form; he takes it to the district head, district head authenticates the signature by signing on that form.’’

  • Kwara grows micro credit scheme to N1.2b

    Kwara grows micro credit scheme to N1.2b

    The Kwara State government yesterday said its Micro Credit Intervention Scheme (MCIS), launched in 2012 with a sum of N250 million has reached a cumulative of N1.2billion.

    The government added that no fewer than 50,000 small business owners have benefited from the scheme.

    Technical Adviser to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on MCIS Olusegun Soewu told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital assuring that more artisans would benefit from the revolving micro-credit scheme of the state government.

    Mr. Soewu added that the state government has set up a new entrepreneurial scheme tagged “Kwara’s Next Entrepreneur” entrepreneurship and competitiveness in the state’s informal sector. The scheme allows existing and new medium scale enterprises to bid for funds to establish or expand existing businesses in the state.

    To this end, a sum of N150million has been earmarked and deposited at the Bank of Industry (BoI) for the scheme.

    He said that a crop of successful businessmen had been engaged as managers and captains to scrutinise business plans of interested individuals.

    The technical adviser said “the panel of captains include, Mr. Kunle Oyinloye, Managing Director, Infrastructure Bank, The Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Esuwoye II, successful businessman and agro entrepreneur, Mr. Shuaib Ottan, accomplished banker, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan (rtd): former Chief of Naval Staff and successful agro-Entrepreneur, Mallam Yusuf Olaolu Alli, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Lanre Sagaya, an engineering consultant. Others are Mr. Waheed Olagunju, Executive Director, Bank of Industry, Chief Tajudeen Owoyemi, Chairman, Avalon Hotel, Offa, and Mr. Gabriel Adewumi, consummate businessman.”

    On the duration of the scheme, Soewu said the competition will be held twice a year to ensure that as a many qualifying small businesses as possible benefit from the scheme.

  • World Bank gives $2.5m to small scale miners

    World Bank gives $2.5m to small scale miners

    •Report provides solutions to 70 per cent global food gap

    The World Bank has granted 2.5 million dollars (about N412.5 million) to 50 small scale mining co-operatives in Nigeria, an official said yesterday in Abuja.

    Mr Obiora Azubike, the Director, Artisanal and Small Scale Mining Department, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said each of the 50 co-operatives got 50,000 US dollars (about N8,250,000) through its micro-credit scheme.

    The director said the miners and the host communities benefited from the grant.

    “The unit of disbursement was 50,000 dollars. But before you are given the money, you are expected to also bring in some of your own matching grant, but not necessarily in cash.

    “So, whatever you are able to produce on your own will depend on how much you will be given. But the highest is 50,000 US dollars.

    “The World Bank Micro-Credit Scheme has ended. So, right now there is no World Bank Micro-Credit Scheme for artisanal miners. The one we had before under the Sustainable Management of Mineral Resource Project has ended.’’

    Azubike added that the World Bank project closed in May 2013 and the last disbursement was before the closure.

    He said the next disbursement was expected as soon as the Solid Minerals Development Fund begins its full operations.

    The director stressed the need for the Federal Government to increase the funding of the sector through increased budgetary allocation.

    A new report has presented solutions to meet the world’s growing food needs put at 70 per cent, while advancing economic development and environmental sustainability, according to a statement.

    This is contained in a joint statement issued by the World Resources Institute (WRI), UNDP, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) online in Abuja yesterday.

    The statement said that the report found that the world would need 70 per cent more food supply in order to feed a global population of 9.6 billion people in 2050.

    It stated that it was possible to close the food gap, while creating a more productive and healthy environment through improvements in the way people produced and consumed food.

    The statement said the findings were being unveiled in the new interim report entitled: World Resources Report: Creating a sustainable Food Future at the ongoing 3rd Global Conference on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security and Climate Change, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    The statement quoted Dr Andrew Steer, the President of WRI as saying that over the next several decades, the world faced a grand challenge and opportunity at the intersection of food security, development and the environment.

    ‘’To meet human needs, we must close the 70 per cent gap between the food we will need and the food available today.

    ‘’But, we must do so in a way that creates opportunities for the rural poor, limits clearing of forests, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.’’

    According to the statement, the report established that boosting crop and livestock productivity on existing agricultural land is critical to saving forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    It noted that the world is unlikely to close the food gap through yield increases alone.

    The new report found that crop yields would need to increase by 32 per cent more over the next four decades than they did in the previous four decades, to avoid more land clearing.

    It also quoted Ms Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP, as saying: ‘’As agriculture is a major economic sector in many developing countries, supporting farmers to close the identified gap between existing and potential yields represented a huge opportunity to advance inclusive and sustainable development.

    ‘’A ‘leave no farmer behind’ approach is needed. As women produce between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of food crops in developing countries, such an approach should begin with efforts to close the gender gap in agriculture, which is perpetuating cycles of poverty and hunger.’’

    In addition, the statement said that the final version of the World Resources Report 2013-2014 : Creating a Sustainable Food Future would be released in the middle of 2014.

    It stated that the report would further quantify the contribution of each ‘’menu item’’ toward closing the food gap, while paying particular attention to the policies, practices, and incentives needed to effectively bring change to scale.

  • 111,312 benefit from Delta micro-credit scheme

    The Delta State Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation, Dr Antonia Ashiedu , said a total of 111,312 persons benefited from the state’s micro-credit scheme between 2007 and February this year.

    Out of the number, according to her, 67,861 were women while men were 43,451.

    Ashiedu, who spoke in an interview with journalists in Asaba, said the beneficiaries of the scheme were involved in cottage industries, trading, agricultural production, service industries, among other enterprises.

    She said the programme had helped to promote peace and security, human capital development and the government’s infrastructural development agenda.

    “Uvwie Local Government Area was once known for youth restiveness and volatility but through the micro-credit scheme, many youths are now engaged in income generating activities.

    “Now, Uvwie is the benchmark for agriculture in the state. Currently, there are more than 3,500 fish farmers and more than 8,600 fish ponds in the state as a result of the scheme,’’ she said.

    The commissioner said the scheme, which was established in December 2007, was designed to address poverty in the rural communities.

    She said the programme had also facilitated access of economically weak and disadvantaged segments of the population in the state to productive activities which had made some rural economies commercially active.

    She said that the scheme had given hope to many households and turned around the lives of the “rural and urban poor” in the state.

    “The programme targets the rural and urban poor, unemployed people, particularly school leavers, women, physically-challenged persons and people living with HIV,’’ she added.