The federal government, through the federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, is yet to disburse the N50,000 trade grant to over half of the eligible applicants out of about 500,000 Nigerians who applied for the scheme.
Nairametrics checked the number from the federal government’s official website. They realized that since it commenced in March, a total of 414,751 persons from all the 774 LGAs of Nigeria have so benefited from the initiative.
To date, on June 1, 2024, there remain 585,249 Nigerians who are yet to benefit from the N50,000 grant scheme.
Earlier, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, said the scheme targeted 1 million eligible applicants, and the disbursement was slated for May 31.
“Many have already received their grants—thank you for your patience! For those waiting, please hold tight.
“The disbursement process is ongoing in tranches and has not been completed yet. The remaining successful applicants shall, from today, receive their alert up to the end of May. There is, therefore, no cause for alarm.”.
“The application portal will close at midnight on April 17, 2024.”.
“The disbursement is currently ongoing and done in tranches. It is expected to be completed by the end of May 2024,” the minister said in a April circular.
Over 3 million people showed their interests
The Minister disclosed that over 3.6 million Nigerians showed interest in the scheme, but he said only one million would be eligible to receive the grants.
She stressed that the scheme is made to facilitate this number of people.
She explained further that the disbursements are not by criteria but by the order of verification of the applications.
He said that what the government plans to do is to distribute funds to about 1,290 people within each local government in the federation and that the overall target is about one million.
“Disbursements are not based on any criteria per se but in the order that applications are verified. The goal is to reach an estimated 1290 beneficiaries per LGA across the country, totaling 1 million.
“Of over 3.6 million applicants, only 1 million will receive the grant. This is the threshold based on the amount budgeted for nano businesses,” she said.
Possible Extension of Deadline
With more than half still waiting for the grants to be disbursed, there is a possibility that the federal government may extend the deadline for such people rather than miss out on the funds earmarked for their small businesses.
In April, Uzoka-Anite told the public that all those granted the money their names shall be published and made known to the public after the program finished.
However, many people are still waiting to get the grants; the possibility is that the federal government will announce a new date as a deadline for the initiative. What you should know The Federal Government introduced the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (PCGS) this December as part of the Presidential Palliatives Programme toward supporting nano-businesses. The Trade Grant Scheme is scheduled to commence on 9th March 2024. It will offer non-repayable financial grant support to eligible small business owners within the trading services, food services, ICT, transport, creative industries, and artisan sectors. The PCGS will target 70% of the grants for women and youth, 10% for people with disabilities, and 5% for senior citizens, leaving 15% for other demographics. The Honourable Minister said that each qualified beneficiary will be supported with a N50,000 grant, which will go directly into their bank accounts, adding that the target covers the 774 LGAs and six council areas in the FCT to reach one million small businesses. More so, Uzoka-Anite gave the scheme great value on the scheme’s ability to reach out to the benefit of over a million beneficiaries across the country.
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