The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), under its Small Scale Enterprises Department has disbursed the sum of N8,060,000 to 235 small scale businesses across the local government areas of Bayelsa State.
Director-General of NDE, Mr Nuhu Fikpo, represented by the state coordinator, Mr Aham Osuchukwu, said this at the opening ceremony of a training for its Start Your Own Business (SYOB) and the Micro Enterprise Enhancement Scheme (MEES) in Yenagoa.
Explaining further, Fikpo said that the SYOB has seven beneficiaries, who are all graduates of tertiary institutions that wrote feasibility studies report for their various businesses which they deemed viable enough to support.
He said that each of them got a loan of N500,000 only to enable them to set up their businesses, adding that the remaining 228 beneficiaries who got N20,000 were selected under the MEES to boost their existing micro businesses.
“Micro business are people selling tomato, vegetables, plantain roasting, snacks, cobblers, fruits selling, among others,” he said.
He further said that one of the core mandates of the NDE was the implementation and design of programmes to combat mass unemployment and poverty reduction in the society.
The Director-General informed them that their individual bank accounts had been credited with the sum of money due to them and urged them to make effective and efficient use of the loans.
He said the loan had an interest rate of nine per cent simple interest and a moratorium period of six months.
Also speaking, one of the beneficiaries of the loan scheme, Miss Ayibalayefa Jones, was full of gratitude to the management of NDE.
She pledged that they would not despise the days of their little beginning but would make effective use of the facility granted them knowing that it is a revolving loan.
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