MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria to Disburse $462m in Loans to 1.7m Traders, Artisans, Farmers; $231m in Conditional Cash Transfers

The Nigerian government recently announced that NGN 68.7 billion (approximately USD 231 million) of its NGN 500 billion (approximately USD 1.7 billion) social investment programme will be used as a conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme for 1 million “extremely poor and vulnerable Nigerians”[2].Under the scheme, recipients will receive NGN 5,000 per month (approximately USD 17). CCT programmes are aimed to reduce poverty by providing recipients with cash on the condition that they meet certain prerequisites such as immunizing their children.

Another initiative of the government’s social investment programme is the Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (EEP), which is intended to provide loans to 1.7 million beneficiaries, such as “market women”[2], artisans, women’s cooperatives, youth and farmers in an effort to promote financial inclusion among those who may not have previously qualified for loans. The loans will incur no more than 3 percent interest per year and will range in size from NGN 60,000 to NGN 100,000 (approximately USD 198 to USD 330). The government has allocated NGN 140.3 billion (approximately USD 462 million) for this programme in the 2016 budget.

By Imke Herholdt, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

[1] All Africa: Nigeria: N500 Billion Social Investment Scheme – FG, World Bank Fine-Tune Recipients’ List
[2] Peoples Daily: Between N500 billion social investment and fuel hike palliatives
[3] Ventures Africa.com: Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme set to create 1million jobs
[4] Vanguard: 8m Nigerians will benefit from FG’s Social Intervention Project- Presidency

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