Ekiti boosts artists’ businesses with N20m soft loans

Ekiti State is actively supporting its creative arts sector by disbursing over N20 million in soft loans to practitioners. The initiative, spearheaded by Governor Biodun Oyebanji's administration, aims to bolster businesses within the creative economy.

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the beneficiaries have six months moratorium, they have just seven per cent interest to pay, and they have 24 months to pay back. This is the softest loan anywhere in the world that anybody can get.

Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Prof. Rasaki Ojo Bakare, presented cheques to the second batch of beneficiaries of the Ekiti State Arts Endowment Fund. He emphasized that all recipients, including individuals and about 40 associations and companies, underwent investigation to confirm their involvement in the creative economy.

The loan terms are exceptionally favorable, featuring a six-month moratorium, a mere 7% interest rate, and a 24-month repayment period. Bakare described these conditions as the "softest loan anywhere in the world." This program follows a similar disbursement of over N20 million in the first phase of 2024.

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If our beneficiaries will just be faithful, committed, honest, and fulfil their own obligations of gradual payback, that alone has made this policy annually sustainable. Because it will be revolving, and every year there will always be something in the account to plough back into the sector.

To ensure the program's long-term viability, Bakare urged beneficiaries to adhere to repayment schedules, enabling the fund to revolve and support more artists annually. He also highlighted an incentive: timely repayment makes beneficiaries eligible to receive double their initial loan amount on future applications. Ekiti is noted as the sole state in Nigeria implementing such an arts endowment fund, with Bakare urging support for Governor Oyebanji's re-election to continue such people-oriented projects.

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As we have told you, if you pay back within the regulation time, you are entitled to double what you were given previously. And we are going to implement that faithfully.