Fatima Mohammed Lawal
Ilorin – Mrs Omolewa Ahmed, the wife of Kwara Governor, has granted and issued loan certificates to about 250 women across the state in commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day.
Presenting the certificates to beneficiaries on Friday in Ilorin, Ahmed said that women’s economic empowerment was essential to ameliorate poverty in the society.
Ahmed, the founder of Life Empowers Anchors Hope (LEAH) Foundation, said the programme was part of Federal Government’s intervention anchored by the Bank of Industry to access loans for women to boost their businesses.
She said that the LEAH Foundation came up with a strategy to empower women in the state under the Leah Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society also being done in collaboration with the Bank of Industry.
The governor’s wife implored the beneficiaries to be mindful that the loans would be repaid as at when due for more women to benefit from the scheme.
She said that there could not be sustainable development if tangible and intangible barriers, which held back women’s development, were not addressed.
The Senior Manager, Micro-Enterprise, Bank of Industry, Mrs Eniola Akinsete, said the loans were designed by the Federal Government for market women, traders, artisans, youths, small scale farmers and workers nationwide.
She said that the beneficiaries must register with the cooperative society, saying the loan was between N10,000 and N100,000.
Akinsete said that the loan must be paid back in six monthsand urged the beneficiaries to make maximum use of it.
The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Dr Asiat Saka, reminded beneficiaries that the fund was not a national cake, but an intervention to help better their living standard.
She urged them not to default in paying back the money as more benefits awaited women in the state.