From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina
The Aliko Dangote Foundation has disbursed N340 million Micro Grant Empowerment to 34,000 women in Katsina State.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of the foundation made the disclosure in Batagarawa while flagging off the distribution.
Dangote said that 1,000 vulnerable women were selected to benefit from the gesture in each of the 34 local government areas of the state.
He said that the programme would complement state government efforts in the area of economic empowerment and poverty reduction among women.
According to him, each beneficiary would receive N10,000 cash grant to boost their household economic status.
He noted that the foundation had distributed over N300 million to 106,000 beneficiaries during the last Ramadan period in some part of the country.
Dangote added that the grants were distributed to the beneficiaries across Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara States to assist in alleviating the level of hardships.
“We are here to flag off the second part of intervention, we will empower 34,000 women in Katsina state.
“1,000 women were selected in each of 34 local government areas, which means, we are giving N340 million.
“The micro grant is one of the components of empowerment policies of Aliko Dangote Foundation.
“We will provide each of the 34,000 women identified by your selection committee with N10,000 unconditional cash grant to boost their household income,” he said.
He said that would assist to reduce vulnerability and help to meet their lively needs.
Dangote pointed out that since inception, 360,000 women, representing over 46 per cent of the target beneficiaries, benefitted from the programme in some states of the federation.
The states were Kano, Jigawa, Lagos, Nasarawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Sokoto, Niger states.
“In coming weeks, we will be proceeding to Kebbi, Zamfara, Edo and Osun states, to conduct similar programme,” he said.
In his remarks, Gov Aminu Masari commended the foundation for the gesture.
He urged other wealthy individuals in the country to emulate Dangote in order to assist in reducing poverty among people in the society.
Masari urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the funds by making new investments and expanding their businesses.
