Rotary plans N50 million loans for MSMEs to boost trade

About 40 Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will benefit from a N2 million facility each, offered by the Rotary District 9110, Nigeria, covering Lagos and Ogun states, respectively.

The N2 million is to enable them boost their businesses and create more wealth in value chains trading. According to Rotary, the loan disbursement to the MSMEs is part of the 1,000 beneficiaries being targeted by June 2021, where it already set-aside a pool of N50 million for the project expected to be granted to qualified MSMEs beneficiaries in these two states.

This was disclosed during the Rotary District 9110 order of proceedings for the first disbursement of mega micro-credit scheme to beneficiaries in Lagos on Tuesday.

The District Governor, Bola Oyebade, explained that this was the maiden edition of the mega micro-credit scheme designed to uplift MSMEs in Nigeria, in line with the values of the Rotary Club to touch the lives of people irrespective of where they are in the country.

Oyebade explained that the beneficiaries are expected to repay the loan in five months, interest-free, adding that it has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said: “This is not a COVID-19 palliative as it were; it is a micro credit of Rotary District 9110 Nigeria, and it is something we had all planned even before COVID-19 as part of our plans for this Rotary year, and COVID-19 only came into Nigeria, I think about March. This is something that has been in plan ever before March this year.”

Speaking further, he explained that the 27 beneficiaries that got the loans were part of the 40 already short-listed by the District for the mega micro-credit scheme.

“The 27 beneficiaries are what we have for now; they are supposed to be 40 people and scale up to more than 100 people, which is our plan. And that N2 million will go for about 100 people, because what we intend to do is to continue to recycle the N2 million which is the base amount we have.”

On the moratorium for the loan payment, Oyebade said: “It is going to be for five months, and by the end of five months they will have returned all the money. It is absolutely interest free.”

In her welcome address, the Chairperson, Mega Micro-Credit Committee of the Rotary District, Olaitan Ojuroye, said the seed fund for the loan was generated by District 9110, to touch lives and humanity, which is the core value of the Rotary Club International.