Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP)

The flagship program of the Growth Platform is the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), launched in 2016 to empower Nigerian MSMEs through microfinance. GEEP’s powerful, technology-enabled infrastructure incorporates biometrics, a network of over 22,000 field agents, mobile wallets, and integration with commercial banks. Through its schemes MarketMoni, TraderMoni and FarmerMoni, GEEP is now Africa’s largest fully digitized micro-credit scheme, impacting over 2.4 million beneficiaries over five years.

National Women Empowerment Fund (NAWEF)

Started in 2017, the National Women Empowerment Fund (NAWEF) is a partnership with the Bank of Industry and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development. This credit-extension program aims to deepen women’s financial inclusion. Modelled on GEEP’s existing products, NAWEF offers non-interest credit for women-owned micro-enterprises in eight states. In total, $20 million has been disbursed to 80,000 female-driven enterprises.

Caregiver

Women’s World Banking (WWB)’s Caregiver program is an affordable health-insurance program for low-income women. Caregiver has provided micro-insurance solutions to more than two million women across the globe. The flexible scheme offers beneficiaries a fixed cash payout per night of hospitalization, and coverage for all conditions. In 2020, WWB partnered with the Growth Platform to bring this product to Nigeria; initially it aims to cover 270,000 existing GEEP beneficiaries.

NG-CARES

The World Bank’s Nigeria COVID-19 Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) program has committed $750 million to address the socioeconomic challenges of the pandemic. The goal is to increase access to livelihood and food-security services, and to disburse targeted grants to eligible households and businesses. The Growth Platform has partnered with the World Bank to deliver a key part of this program—a $158 million fund dedicated to subsidies and grants for 650,000 vulnerable MSMEs.

State Enterprise Empowerment Programme (SEEP)

The State Enterprise Empowerment Programme (SEEP), a partnership between the Bank of Industry and state governments, provides affordable credit (between ₦50,000.00 and ₦100,000.00) to help micro enterprises grow their businesses. SEEP targets entrepreneurial youth, artisans, traders, and market women in participating states, and plans to expand into other states. Using the Growth Platform’s delivery system, SEEP offers a loan journey of only two weeks from application to disbursement.

MSME Survival Fund

As part of its Economic Sustainability Plan, Nigeria launched the MSME Survival Fund—a $187 million fund to support MSMEs through payroll support, guaranteed offtake schemes, artisan and transport-worker support, and grants. The Survival Fund makes use of the Growth Platform’s infrastructure and agent network, and demonstrates the Growth Platform’s capacity to cater to larger businesses.

North-East Rehabilitation Fund (NERF)

In 2018, the Bank of Industry established the North-East Rehabilitation Fund (NERF) to facilitate the economic recovery of internally displaced persons (IDP). It supports MSMEs in these communities through zero-interest loans. NERF was modeled on GEEP’s TraderMoni initiative. Owing to the severe lack of infrastructure and formal identification documents in target communities, the Growth Platform’s innovative mobile systems and database are essential to NERF’s success.