The Federal Government has commenced the payment of N30,000 one-time grant to 330,000 artisans across the country as the implementation of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan progresses.
A presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement yesterday, said the payments were being made to sets of verified beneficiaries of the Artisan Support Scheme, a track under the MSMEs Survival Fund.
Akande said in the first stream of payments which started Tuesday, October 27, 2029, beneficiaries were being drawn from the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos, Ondo, Kaduna, Borno, Kano, Bauchi, Anambra, Abia, Rivers, Plateau and Delta States.
He said the beneficiaries formed the first batch of applications for the scheme submitted between October 1 and October 10.
Akande said the MSMEs Survival Fund scheme was a component of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan developed by an Economic Sustainability Committee established by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2020.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to head the committee which produced NESP and is overseeing the implementation of the plan.
He said under the ESP, the Survival Fund is designed to among other things, support vulnerable MSMEs in meeting their different obligations and safeguard jobs in the sector.
The presidential spokesman said the enumeration for the second stream of states under the Artisan Support Scheme had also commenced with enumerators in various States compiling the lists of artisans through their association leaders, stressing that all artisans are expected to liaise with their association leaders to document their details.
He listed the 12 states under Stream 2 to include Edo, Ogun, Ekiti, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Enugu, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Taraba, and Bayelsa, stating that the registration of applicants for Stream 2 began on October 19, 2020.
