GEEP Needs To be More Accountable, Impactful and Sustainable – Badamasi

The National Coordinator and CEO of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Assoc. Prof. Badamasi Lawal, has called for an urgent transformation of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) to make it more accountable, impactful and sustainable. He made the remarks at the Stakeholders’ Roundtable on the Renewed Hope Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (RHGEEP 3.0) held in Abuja.

Represented at the roundtable by the Acting National Programme Manager of N-POWER, Mr. Nsikak Okon, the NSIPA National Coordinator said the Renewed Hope administration recognises both the urgency and the opportunity to reposition GEEP to better deliver financial inclusion and economic empowerment.

“I am confident that today’s deliberations will yield concrete outcomes that will not only strengthen RHGEEP 3.0 but also advance our national goals of poverty reduction, economic empowerment, and sustainable development,” he said.

Badamasi noted that GEEP, a core component of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs) was established to provide microcredit and financial support to Nigerians at the base of the economic pyramid. Through flagship schemes such as MarketMoni, TraderMoni and FarmerMoni, GEEP has helped expand micro-enterprises, restore dignity, and provide opportunities for those often excluded from formal financial systems.

While commending progress under GEEP 1.0 and 2.0, he emphasised that RHGEEP 3.0 must incorporate lessons learned to deepen impact. Key priorities he identified included: Strengthening transparency and accountability across the programme, enhancing repayment and sustainability mechanisms, expanding digital inclusion and fintech partnerships to improve efficiency, deepening collaboration with state and local governments to widen reach and ligning GEEP more closely with the broader national social protection framework.

Badamasi described RHGEEP 3.0 as a recalibration rather than a continuation, anchored on:

• Re-establishing confidence with beneficiaries, the public and stakeholders,
• Ensuring equity in access and fairness in process and
• Enforcing obligations, particularly repayment, to ensure sustainability.

Delivering the welcome address, National Programme Manager for GEEP, Mr. Hamza Baba, reiterated the programme’s commitment to expanding access to interest-free loans through MarketMoni, TraderMoni and FarmerMoni.

“As part of measures to renew trust and build a sustainable RHGEEP 3.0, I visited Kaduna, Kano and Lagos to meet market leadership and beneficiaries of previous GEEP cycles,” Mr. Baba said. “State Programme Managers in Imo, Cross River, Katsina, Niger and Zamfara have also carried out sensitisation exercises to identify authentic small-holder traders and secure cooperation on repayment.”

He added that the roundtable is an opportunity to gather feedback, surface innovative ideas, strengthen partnerships with policymakers, financiers and grassroots leaders, and ensure interventions translate into measurable progress for households and communities.

“Together, we can ensure that financial inclusion is not just a policy aspiration, but a lived reality for every farmer, every trader, and every Nigerian striving for a better future,” Mr. Baba said.