Business
Empowerment: NGO Distributes N3m Starter Packs To 46 Girls
A Kaduna-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) — Gender Awareness Trust (GAT) in collaboration with Christian Aid Council has distributed N3 million worth of starter packs to 46 adolescent girls in Zonkwa, Kaduna State.
The Executive Director of GAT, Mrs Lydia Umar, said while distributing the packs to the girls yesterday.
at the Igbo Community Town Hall in Zonkwa, Zangon Kataf Local Government, that the gesture was under the Collective for Adolescent Girls’ Initiative (CAAGI) mission.
According to her, the gesture is to empower women in education and commerce, as well as adolescent girls for self-reliance.
Umar congratulated the beneficiaries and asked them to consider themselves privileged, adding that they should reciprocate the gesture, made possible by international donors by contributing positively to their respective communities.
She added that “the gesture will not only change the lives of the recipients but of their families and communities at large.”
The Project Coordinator of GAT, Mrs Tida Abba, said the starter packs would equip the adolescent girls who acquired skills to earn better opportunities for economic empowerment.
The Coordinator, Faith Actors Dialogue Forum, Rev. Joseph Hayab commended the donors for the gesture which he described at worthy initiative.
Hayab urged the beneficiaries not to sell the packs, instead, they should use it to improve their lives and train others.
Mr Jonathan Ayuba who spoke on behalf of traditional leaders in the area applauded the initiators and urged them to extend the gesture to the male gender.
Mrs Blessings Bitrus who spoke on behalf of the recipients, expressed gratitude to the NGO for the training acquired and assured that the beneficiaries would maximise the potential of the items received.
Beneficiaries were drawn from Zonzon, Ramai and Fadan Kamantan, who received the packs, which included sewing machines, hair-dressing kits, baking materials, bead-making materials and weaving machines.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
