Ogun State Commissioner for Community Development and Cooperatives, Ganiyu Hamzat, has declared the government is ready for partnership on poverty alleviation.
He said the current administration in Ogun State is passionate about poverty reduction, with emphasis on people at the grassroots, and added that collaborative efforts would always be appreciated
The commissioner stated this when he received officials of First City Monument Bank and Eco Bank Plc, who were in his office to present a proposal for micro loans to trade associations registered with the ministry.
Hamzat, in a statement by his Press Officer, Modupe Salabiu, said the proposed partnership would complement government’s agenda to better the lot of the rural dwellers, when adopted and approved by the state executive council.
Eco Bank Group Consumer Banking Head, Nana Abban, and First City Monument Bank Regional Director South West, Adelaja Adeleye, said their banks were ready to partner the ministry, in order to make loans easily accessible to women and artisans registered as associations with the ministry.
‘’We are ready to create awareness by giving financial and literacy training to beneficiaries through internal and external facilitators,’’ Abba said.
Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Oluseye Fatudimu, appreciated the initiative by the banks, noting that further consultations would be made with associations and cooperatives on the project to further improve the economy of the state.