The Federal Government has rolled out the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) 2.0 to assist the poor and vulnerable people in Abia.
Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, launched the national phase of the programme in Umuahia.
The minister, who was represented by Mrs Nkechi Onwukwe, Director, Special Needs, said it was a programme designed by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for vulnerable and low-income Nigerians.
According to her, the programme is meant for those who are involved in some sort of commercial activities cum capacity but have never had the opportunity to access loans.
She explained that it was meant to give priority to the most vulnerable in the society such as widows, youths, disabled and the displaced amongst others.
She said: “GEEP is captured in three signature schemes namely the TraderMoni loan of N50,000, targeted uplifting under-privileged and marginalised youths between the ages 18-40 years.
“Market Moni, an empowerment programme designed for under privileged and marginalised women – widows, divorcees amongst other vulnerable groups.
“Then FarmerMoni loan scheme which is equally designed to provide agricultural inputs worth up to a maximum of N300,000 to rural farmers.”
Farouq explained that about 20,722 potential beneficiaries were registered across the 17 council areas in Abia, out of which 4,144 of them were selected after verification.
According to her, the successful beneficiaries of the GEEP programme will start receiving credit alert from Access Bank immediately after the inauguration on Saturday.
She said that the programme was a consolidation of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) designed by the Federal Government under the leadership of President Buhari.
She said that the programme was being implemented in close partnerships with the State Government, adding that the effort was a clear demonstration of collective commitment to address poverty.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government also launched the disbursement of grants of N20,000 each to 3,107 beneficiaries across the 17 council areas under its Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) programme.(NAN)
