BoI To Disburse Loans Worth N310 Billion To MSMES

The Bank of Industry (BoI) has said it would disburse at least N310 billion in loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) between 2016 and 2019.

Mr Waheed Olagunju, the Acting Director-General of the bank, who disclosed this at a ceremony to mark the appointment of new internal auditors and accountants for the bank in Lagos on Friday, said that the aim of the loans was to support the government’s efforts at empowering SMEs in the country.

“As we all know, SMEs are the engine of the economy and we have been working to support the government’s efforts at up scaling their capacity. To crash the rate of unemployment from the 25 per cent rate to a single digit, the SMEs and manufacturing sector need to be involved. The only issue we have been having with SMEs is that they keep saying that BOI does not disburse to them, but the truth is that banks need track record and character to disburse loans to enterprises.

“The major challenge of SMEs is not loan because asking for a loan at the very beginning of your micro business is not the best way to go. It is better to start from somewhere with assistance from friends and family; from there your track record and character can be monitored even by the business owner himself,’’ he said.

According to Olagunju, BoI has established nine more offices, five digital ICT products and raised its Business Development Support Providers (BDSPs) to 200.

He said the BDSPs were there for a token to write proposals, application guides and all that small entrepreneurs would find difficult to present while applying for a loan.

He also urged Nigerians to patronise Made-in-Nigeria products just like other developing economies were doing.

Olagunju said that it was because of one of these reasons the BoI patronised made-in-Nigeria buses and encouraged wearing of traditional attires in its dress code.