Kwara begins disbursements of cash grant to 30,000 women petty traders

The Kwara State Government on Wednesday kick-started the disbursement of N20,000 grant to 30,000 female petty traders across the 16 local government areas of the state.

The support, which is modelled after a World Bank programme, Nigeria for Women Project, is being coordinated under the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP)’s popular known as “Owo Isowo” initiative.

Abdulquawiy A. Olododo, Ag. General Manager of KWASSIP, said in a statement that the disbursement begins in Ilorin West, Ilorin South, and Asa and will proceed to other local government areas in the coming days.

He said that the programme was designed under the leadership of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to specially give a lifting hand to the poorest and vulnerable citizens in the state.

He said that the initiative was a clear demonstration of the Governor’s commitment to address poverty which has become a core developmental challenge confronting the good people of the state.

“Since the inception of Governor Abdulrazaq’s administration in 2019, it has inherited a high national poverty incidence level.

“The State Government has paid more attention to generating solutions to address the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the state in spite of other economic challenges the administration inherited.

“This informed the decision to initiate the Owo Isowo as a strategy for poverty reduction and enhancing women empowerment,” Mr. Olododo said.

He said the Kwara State Government is the first state to kick off the women empowerment programme after the Federal Government NSIP initiative.

This newspaper gathered the initiative had been approved by the state executive council on August 10, 2022.