The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Benue State has identified 240 beneficiaries for N10 million loan under the Nigerian Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) project.
Our correspondent reports that the NDE had earlier trained 98 beneficiaries on the verge of collecting their loans to engage in private profitable businesses.
State Coordinator of NDE, Musa Sadauki, made the disclosure while flagging-off the second phase of the Entrepreneurship Development Training Programmme (EDTP) organised by the Small Scale Enterprise Department of the NDE in Makurdi.
Sadauki maintained that the beneficiaries were being trained by the NDE to access the loans, stressing that the training was aimed at equipping the beneficiaries with basic business skills to make them effective in their business ventures.
“The flag-off ceremony we are witnessing today, is the Phase 2 of the EDTP, which is in collaboration between NDE and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under the Nigerian Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL)
“Further, after the training, the prospective beneficiaries will be well equipped to write a bankable business plan and access the Agricultural Business Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Loans Scheme (AGSMEIS).
“Beneficiaries can access up to N10 million, depending on the viability of their business plan.
“In light of the above, I wish to encourage the 240 beneficiaries invited for this training to be committed to it. This will enable them acquire greater business skills to enhance their business success when they eventually obtain the loan,” he said.
On his part, the Head of Department, Small Scale Enterprises of NDE, Francis Kwaghga posited in an interview that 98 other persons, who have already uploaded their business plan to the NIRSAL website, were on the verge of collecting their loans.
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