The Ondo State Government has told traders and artisans in the state that the Residency Card, also known as Kaadi Igbeayo, remains the major requirement to obtain loans from state government agencies.
The Chairman of Ondo State Micro-Credit Agency, Mrs Banke Sutton, made the declaration on Tuesday at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the state government and some selected Micro-Finance Institutions in the state that will participate in the implementation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Funds.
At the ceremony in Akure, the state capital, the OSMA boss explained that it had become a policy of the state government to ensure all residents of the state, who want to benefit from the state government, to obtain the residency card, saying this was also applicable to accessing loans.
On the MSMEDF scheme, which involves the collaboration of the Central Bank of Nigeria with state government, she added that the scheme would ease the collection of loans by the traders, through the participating micro-finance institutions in the state, and consequently boost the economy of the state.
Sutton added that another significance of the scheme was that the CBN wanted every trader or artisan to have an account with the micro-finance banks so as to have more access to loan.
“It is obvious that our gathering here today is by and large to fulfill the policy guidelines of the MSMEDF in ensuring that beneficiaries under the scheme have financial inclusion and have access to financial services amongst others through the participation of Micro-Finance Institutions,” she said.
The Regional Manager of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Adeyemi Adebola, commended the state government for ensuring that the state was one of the first sets of states to access the MSMEDF.
He noted that the scheme would make accessing loans less difficult “unlike before when you could not get loans without bringing property as collateral”.
-Punch
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