The federal government has disbursed N20.7 billion out of the N50 billion budgeted for the trade grant scheme intended for nano businesses.
According to the latest data on the official government website as of June 4, 2024, 414,873 individuals have benefited from the scheme across the 774 local government areas (LGAs).
Each of these individuals has received N50,000 from the federal government for their nano businesses.
In sum, the funds released by the government so far under this initiative amount to N20,743,650,000.
Nairametrics can also confirm that the disbursement is still ongoing as the number of beneficiaries moved from 414,751 on June 1 to 414,873 on June 4, adding not less than a hundred more recipients in three days.
While announcing the initiative in December 2023 as part of the presidential palliative package, the federal government said a total of 1 million Nigerians will benefit from it.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, also said in a statement that even though 3.6 million Nigerians applied for the programme, the initiative only covers 1 million eligible applicants.
She further explained that disbursements are not determined by specific criteria but are processed in the order of application verification.
According to the minister, the objective is to distribute funds to an estimated 1,290 beneficiaries per local government area (LGA) across the country, with the overall goal of reaching one million
