BOI to support two million traders with interest-free loans

Toyin Adeniji, executive director of Bank of Industry (BOI), says the organisation has put in place initiatives to support two million traders with interest-free loans.

While unveiling the ‘Trader Moni’ initiative in Lagos on Tuesday, Adeniji said BOI will not relent until every Nigerian has access to loans, irrespective of their status or level of education.

She said the aim of the initiative is to take financial inclusion down to the grassroots whereby artisans and traders can access loans to expand their businesses without any collateral.

Adeniji said President Muhammadu Buhari is in support of the scheme as a recognition of the efforts of petty traders to the economy.

“President Muhammadu Buhari led administration recognised the contribution of petty traders to economic development and identified the fact that some of them may not have what the commercial banks may required to grant loan, so he supports this initiative to help them grow their business,” she said.

“This ‘Trader Moni’ initiative is a mobile phone-driven, after your details have been captured by agent and send to BOI system for validation, within 48 hours, you will get cash notification in your mobile wallet account. You can either transfer the cash to your bank account or cash it out in any mobile money agent around.

“At the beginning, you can access N10,000 and pay back N10,250 to qualified for N15,000. Once you payback N15,375, you will qualify for N20,000 loan. When you pay back N21,000, you will get N50,000. All these stages have a duration of six months interval to pay back.”