BoI, Diamond Bank partner on GEEP to aid financial inclusion

The Bank of Industry (BoI) and Diamond Bank have partnered towards enhancing bridging financial inclusion gap among micro entrepreneurs through the implementation of the N140 billion Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) scheme.

The Acting Managing Director, BoI, Waheed Olagunju, while speaking at the programme in Lagos, said that government evolved the scheme because of its passion about sustainable business growth and empowerment of micro entrepreneurs.

According to him, GEEP is one of the social intervention programmes of the Federal Government executed by the Bank of Industry. Through GEEP’s MarketMoni product, government seeks to promote financial inclusion and access to credit for 1.6 million market traders, artisans, cooperatives, youth and farmers.

He said that MarketMoni is a microcredit loan, easy to access between N10,000 to N100,000 and repayable over six months. “The idea is to make the loan easily accessible and affordable to the beneficiaries so if you have a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and belong to a market association, you are eligible.

“Basically, it is a loan that is affordable with no interest rate. The only extra money that you see is the administration fees, five per cent which is flat.

“That means if you are taking a loan of N20, 000, at the end of six months, you will pay N21, 000, the beauty is that it is a weekly repayment so it is easy for the beneficiary,” he said.

Olagunju, represented by Executive Director, Micro Enterprise, BoI, Mrs Toyin Adeniji, said the partnership with Diamond Bank was to leverage on their commitment and stride in driving financial inclusion among microentrepreneurs.