The Federal Government of Nigeria has unveiled plans to provide a non-interest loan of N50,000 to support 1.5 million market women under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program.

This initiative is aimed at boosting the capital of these women and promoting business expansion.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, disclosed this exciting development on Tuesday.

She further revealed that a total fund of N75 billion has been allocated for this program, which will be officially launched on October 17th, and will be known as the “Iyaloja Fund” specifically designed to assist underprivileged female traders.

Dr. Edu explained that the program would be implemented in three phases, with the first phase benefiting 500,000 individuals.

She emphasized that these loans are non-interest loans, stating, “We will start right away with the GEEP Programme; we have Iyaloja Funds, which is equivalent to Market Women Money.”

“We have the Jaga Funds, which is a capital fund for traders, and Farmers’ Money, which is called the Hugo Fund. The Farmer’s Money will be provided to the poorest of the farmers to enable them to go into the next farming season.”

Highlighting the government’s commitment to poverty alleviation, she mentioned President Bola Tinubu’s eight-point agenda, which includes a Conditional Cash Transfer program.

This program will provide N75,000 in three instalments to support 15 million households, equivalent to 62 million individuals.

Additionally, Dr. Edu noted that the Federal Government has several other initiatives, such as grants for vulnerable groups through N-Power, aimed at creating job opportunities for the unemployed within communities.

The government is also focusing on projects like the Renewed Hope Shelter, where communities will be enabled to build houses for the impoverished, Internally Displaced Persons, and refugees.

She emphasized that these houses would be constructed using local resources, including furniture.