THE Bank of Industry, BoI, has commenced the disbursement of N15,000 TraderMoni loans to beneficiaries who have successfully paid back  their first N10,000 loans. According to the Bank, the disbursement is in response to the increasing beneficiary repayments recorded under the scheme.

The recorded high repayment rate through a flexible weekly loan repayment plan of N430 per week paid over six months. BoI explained that the beneficiaries paid back the loans on the PayDirect platform available in commercial bank branches across Nigeria and also through the purchase of repayment scratch cards that could be procured from TraderMoni agents deployed across 2,260 markets/cluster locations.

Indeed, available MSME data show that even though small businesses employ about 84 per cent of the labour force; they contribute 50 percent to the Gross Domestic Product, however, access to funding remains limited. To address the challenges and in recognition of the sheer possibilities that the MSME sector holds for the economy; the federal government in 2016 introduced the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme.

The bank said: “Through its signature products—MarketMoni, FarmerMoni, and TraderMoni — GEEP has reached over 1.5 million Nigerians through small loans. These loans, starting from N10,000 up to N300,000, have helped beneficiaries to transform their businesses.

“If these beneficiaries repay their first loan as promised, they immediately qualify for the second level loan of N15, 000. After repaying  the second loan, these beneficiaries will qualify for N20,000 loan, then N25,000 loan, and finally they will  graduate to the MarketMoni loan  programme where they can get up to N100,000  interest-free,  collateral-free loan. Through a gradual step by step process, these Micro Small and Medium Enterprises can grow and create jobs.

“This incentive-based model is working. Despite the fears of traditional lenders on giving loans to MSMEs — in part due to lack of formal identification, limited financial track record, and absence of collateral, TraderMoni continues to achieve success with loan repayments.”

– Feb. 22, 2019 @ 16:09 GMT |