Delta State Commissioner for Poverty
Alleviation, Dr. Antonia Ashiedu, has said that, a total of 111,312 Deltans
with 10,429 of different groups totally 67,861 females and 43,451 males have so
far benefitted from the Delta State Micro-Credit Scheme which began in 2007.
Dr. Ashiedu disclosed this at
a press briefing held at the Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba.
She disclosed that a total of N2.7b was made available by the State to fund the Delta State Micro-Credit Programme (DMCP) out of which N50m was deposited at the state Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Trust Model Money with EcoBank.
She disclosed that a total of N2.7b was made available by the State to fund the Delta State Micro-Credit Programme (DMCP) out of which N50m was deposited at the state Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Trust Model Money with EcoBank.
The Commissioner reiterated
that the state government was committed to ameliorating the poverty level of Deltans,
adding that DMCP was an alleviation strategy targeted at the financially weak
in the society.
According to her, the most
important areas of focus by the Ministry are trading, cottage industry, agriculture and service delivery, stating
that Nigerians in the Diaspora have shown interest in partnering with the
programme.
Speaking further, Ashiedu noted the
building capacity of DMCP clients and basic requisite skills are needed to
enable clients produce standard and competitive goods, saying that the state
government has gone into the provision of cassava processing industry for the
production of garri, cassava flour and starch. She called on Deltans to key into
the programme especially in establishing cottage industry.
