The Federal Government has launched the “Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer” for 15 million vulnerable Nigerian households.
The launch, which coincided with the World Poverty Eradication Day, took place at the Press Gallery of the State House in Abuja on Tuesday.
President Bola Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, said it was in fulfillment of his Independence Day broadcast to Nigerians on October 1, where he announced the cash transfer programme which would target vulnerable citizens.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Eradication, Betta Edu, said the 15 million households represent 62 million Nigerians.
According to Edu, the plan was to transfer the sum of N25,000 to the beneficiaries on a monthly basis for three months, amounting to N75,000 for each of the beneficiaries.
She disclosed that another scheme would soon be launched code-named “Iya Loja Funds” which would provide soft loans of N50,000 to support petty traders.
The Country Director of the World Bank, Chaudhuri, pledged his organisation’s support to the scheme.
The finance minister said a biometric auditing system would be put in place to ensure efficiency and accountability in the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries.
In Nigeria, 40.1 per cent of people are poor, according to the 2018/2019 national monetary poverty line, and 63 per cent are multi-dimensionally poor, according to the National MPI 2022.
Multidimensional poverty is higher in rural areas, where 72 per cent of people are poor, compared to 42 per cent of people in urban areas.
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