Benue State doles out grant to small businesses

Determined to boost small businesses in Benue State, the government has given ₦150,000 grant to each of 4,000 small holders to expand their businesses.

Commissioner for Finance, Mr Michael Oglegba said that big business owners were also given N500,000 grants under the Alia Cares Scheme.

He said that the scheme was funded by the state government with the support of the World Bank to boost the state economy.

“So far, we have given more than 4,000 people a grant of N150,000 to inject into their small businesses and make a profit to expand.

“This is done across the state, and we are still getting more requests.

“Not only small businesses; we also gave out grants of N500,000 to big businesses like saloons to also inject and build bigger businesses.

“Farmers are also not left out in the scheme; we have Fadama, which is a direct intervention for farmers where they are given inputs like fertiliser. Those interested in piggery can get a female and male piglet to breed.

“If you are a poultry farmer, the scheme gives you day-old chicks. It also gives out cassava stems to farmers to plant, while those who do cassava processing were given hundreds of cassava processing machines.

“So, all these projects are funded through contributions from the state government and support from the World Bank, and the scheme has been successful,” he explained.

Oglegba said that the scheme was also providing immediate support to the poorest of the poor in the society.

According to him, beneficiaries are supported through direct cash transfers monthly.

He said that the direct cash transfers were done in batches so that all vulnerable persons could benefit from the scheme.

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“We have a scheme for the elderly where we pay them 10,000 monthly but use different parameters in the state and try to determine who is poor and most vulnerable.

“This programme runs for nine months to a year, then we start with another set of beneficiaries so that this can go round to the most vulnerable in the state,” he said.

He said another ongoing intervention was for the strong who were unemployed and were given a stipend and a task to do to justify the pay.

“The beneficiaries of this intervention are drawn from the social register across the state, and they do some menial jobs within the state and then get paid.

“We also have a scheme under Alia Cares that supports communities in need of direct intervention. There is a list of services which they choose from while the government gives out the funds for the project.

“We ask what the basic needs of the community are, be it schools, boreholes, or even primary healthcare; the community chooses its contractors and team while the government funds the project to completion.

“Presently, from January to date, 54 of these community projects have been done to completion across the state through the intervention and are one hundred per cent successful.” Oglegba said.

NAN