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According to Hamza Ibrahim Baba, the National Programme Manager of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, the issuance of interest-free loans to smallholder farmers and companies nationwide would soon begin before the end of 2025.
While meeting with members of the traders’ groups and other informal business sector players in Kaduna on Friday, Baba made this information public.
He explained that the loans—up to N100,000 per recipient—were made possible through the FarmerMoni program run by GEEP. This program helps small-scale farmers who raise chickens, fish, cattle, and crops.
“Farmers and small business owners across the country, including in Kaduna State, will receive assistance during this pilot phase.” There will be a six-month grace period for beneficiaries to start making money before they have to start paying it back.
“They will be able to purchase inputs like fertilisers, cattle, veterinary medications, and other essential tools with the help of these funds,” Baba stated.
According to Baba, the program is one of the main projects of the National Social Investment Programme and is run by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
In order to promote financial inclusion and assist micro-enterprises, petty traders, craftsmen, youth entrepreneurs, and farmers in scaling up their operations, he claims that GEEP offers these groups interest-free loans without collateral.
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He elaborated by saying that GEEP runs three programs: TraderMoni, which helps people in the petty trades between the ages of 18 and 45; MarketMoni, which assists women in small-scale dealing; and FarmerMoni, which helps people in rural areas who are farmers.
This is not a grant, Baba said. These loans do not incur interest. Ultimately, we want to see bottom-of-the-pyramid Nigerians build jobs by assisting them in growing their enterprises and entering the formal financial system.
Loan amounts varied from N5,000 to N100,000, according to the coordinator, and were designed to encourage sustainability via evaluation and monitoring.
In order to pick only worthy recipients, he emphasised the importance of trade groups and cooperatives coordinating closely with GEEP Desk Officers and field enumerators in each of Nigeria’s 774 LGAs.
Accurate targeting and openness are crucial to the success of this program.Those who are trying to take advantage of the system will not be reached; our focus is on those who actually need help, he said.
Baba emphasised that the pilot farmer intervention will set the stage for greater implementation in 2026, assuring that the Tinubu administration was dedicated to increasing the reach of all GEEP projects.
He praised continuing reforms to improve delivery and accountability and thanked past administrations and ministers for their roles in GEEP’s progress since its start in 2016.
In addition to the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer, and Grants for Vulnerable Groups, he said that GEEP works in tandem with other NSIP components. Poverty alleviation and better lives for all Nigerians are the end goals of all of these initiatives.
Hauwa Musa, one of the recipients, thanked the federal government in an interview, saying that the assistance had a profound effect on her life and allowed her business to grow.
While Mallam Umar Usman did not claim to have reaped any benefits from the program thus far, he did voice his desire to be considered for the next GEEP 3.0 phase, the payout of which is anticipated to begin shortly.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, market leaders and stakeholders also expressed their gratitude to the Federal Government for providing interest-free loans to company owners.In order to guarantee equitable distribution and that the assistance reached individuals in need, they pledged to collaborate closely with the GEEP Desk Officers.