Over 3,000 small business owners in Kwara state will benefit from the first round of operating cost awards offered through the state COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) program.
The programme, a World Bank initiative to be underwritten by the Kwara state government, is designed to cushion the effects of COVID-19.
It is also meant to improve the state of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to boost the local economy and increase the employment rate in Kwara state.
Speaking with journalists during the commencement of the first phase enumeration for the programme in Ilorin on Monday, Operational Grant Team Lead, Jaiye Jegede, said that the programme is focused on improving the employment rate and ease of running businesses in the state.
Mr Jegede said that a total number of 4,225 applicants underwent vetting process for disbursement linked indicator but over 3,000 successful applicants were contacted for enumeration.
Jegede also said that over 20,000 applicants from across all the 16 local government areas of the state had applied through a hybrid of online and offline registration processes at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology and the Kwara state Social Investment Programmes office.
