Kwara Approves N200m Grants For 4,000 Artisans  

Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has approved a N200million grant for 4,000 artisans as part of the state’s social investment programme.

Beneficiaries of the scheme being anchored by Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) will receive N50,000 each to further improve on their businesses.

The artisans are expected to write business proposals and will be called upon to defend same before the disbursement of the grants.

The general manager of KWASSIP, Abdulqowiyy Olododo, at a news conference in Ilorin, the state capital, on Monday, said that part of the criteria which the artisans have to fulfill include uploading of their 2022 tax clearance from Kwara Internal Revenue Service (KWlRS) and evidence that they belong to recognised artisan associations in the state.

Olododo, who said that a portal for application of the grant has been launched, added that the programme, tagged, ‘KWAPRENEUR 3.0’ was aimed to stabilise the economy of the state.

“The KWAPRENEUR is a programme aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs in the State to get access to funding and training to kick-start their businesses and also expand existing ones in order to see that Kwara State fully becomes a business-driven economy.

“KWAPRENEUR 3.0 called for application, which was concluded between August and September 2022. Applicants ranged from varieties of professions such as fashion designing, small scale provision business, agriculture, transportation services, and a lot more.

“KWAPRENEUR 3.0 received over 15,708 applications, out of which 1,582 were found to be multiple entries, bringing the actual applications to 14,126, which cut across all the 16 local governments in Kwara state.

“It is important to state at this juncture to the members of the public that our team or professionals is currently screening these applications to select the ones which meet requirements of the programme.

“Starting this week, successful applicants will begin to receive calls and messages to inform them to come and defend their business plans before our team of judges to determine the beneficiaries of the Kwapreneur 3.0,” he explained.