Kwara State government has urged business owners to take advantage of the World Bank’s NG- CARES grants to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses.
The acting general manager of Kwara State Social Investment Programmes (KWASSIP), Mr Brimah Muhammad made the call during a sensitisation programme on Kwara NG-CARES for owners of medium and small enterprises (MSMEs), in Ilorin, the state capital.
“We are here today for a townhall sensitisation meeting on MSMEs across Kwara State to let them know about the CARES/World Bank programme. It is COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme which is set up to support MSMEs in various sectors and in various ways due to COVID-19 pandemic, the losses they may have incurred during that period.
“What we intend to achieve here is to enlighten MSMEs across Kwara State on how to apply. The eligibility criteria to apply for the support the World Bank, Federal Government and the state government are providing to them,” Muhammed said.
Speaking on operational support grant, the official in-charge of Disbursement Link Indicator 2, Jaye Jegede explained that the programme would support government’s interventions that help MSEs retain their staff and operational costs.
“Grant to MSEs to cover 50% of the operational costs, including staff salaries, documented utilities, documented private security expenses, rent and mini solar panel acquisition expenses.
