N6.4 Billion Raised for Poverty Eradication

from All Africa

Weekly Trust (Kaduna)

NEWS
Kaduna

More than N6.4 billion has been raised through the multi-party micro-finance programme to combat poverty under the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), its National Coordinator, Dr. Magnus Kpakol, has said.

Kpakol, who announced this on Thursday in Lafia at the launch of a multi-partner micro-finance Programme, said. "We are hopeful that by the time all the 36 states of the federation would be on board, nearly N10 billion would be raised," he said.

Kpakol said the micro-finance approach had started yielding results, and that 25 states and the FCT were participating in the programme.

He said NAPEP's mandate was to monitor and coordinate all poverty eradication programmes at the federal, state and local government levels.

"Poverty is such a monster that only collective efforts can deal with it decisively," he said adding that NAPEP introduced micro-finance programme in 2005, as a partnership between the scheme and other stakeholders, including state and local governments.

Other stakeholders, he said, were commercial banks, micro-finance institutions, cooperatives and private companies.

"The purpose is to raise funds for onward lending to the active poor," he said.

For participants to benefit from the scheme, Kpakol said they must form co-operatives and open accounts with approved Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).

He said funds pooled under the programme would be disbursed by the participating banks.

"We have a state Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) that will monitor the ongoing programmes, assess the success or otherwise of the scheme," he said.

The National Coordinator handed over cheque to the participating MFIs and cooperative societies that would in turn disburse to participating members at the grass root.

Earlier, the state's Secretary of NAPEP, Mrs Hapsatu Mormoni, had said that NAPEP had so far committed N40 million to the scheme in the state.