The Bank of Industry has said it has disbursed N232bn out of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N235bn restructuring and refinancing facility for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises.
The Executive Director, Operations, BoI, Mr. Mohammed Alkali, made the disclosure at a business luncheon organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Ikeja Branch, in Lagos on Thursday.
Alkali, who represented the Managing Director, BoI, Ms. Evelyn Oputu, said over 500 SMEs had benefitted from the loan scheme at an interest rate of seven per cent per annum for 15 years.
“We have already disbursed N235bn to 550 beneficiaries through the commercial banks cutting across all the key sectors,” he said.
Alkali spoke on the theme, ‘Bridging the gap between manufacturing and the Bank of Industry’.
He also said the operation of the Power and Aviation Intervention Fund had led to the establishment of new power plants in clusters, with a total disbursement of N104bn to the power and N117bn to the aviation sectors.
According to him, disbursements under the PAIF have yielded 25 projects, and 10 other projects in the power and aviation sectors, respectively.
Alkali said the total risk asset portfolio of N146bn had been distributed to the real sectors, including auto/transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, basic metal and fabrication; cotton, textile and garmenting; creative and entertainment; and hospitality.
Speaking on the Federal Government’s N100bn Cotton, Textile and Garment Revival Fund, he said in addition to the 8,070 jobs that were saved last year, 3,472 new jobs had been created.
“The capacity utilisation increased from below 30 per cent to 60 per cent with additional jobs comprising 2,197 new jobs; 1,027 for males and 1, 170 for females. The number of workers who were previously laid off and were recalled is 1,275,” he said.
According to Alkali, BoI is still faced with challenges in its quest to promote manufacturing in the country, including high cost of doing business, inadequate power supply, poor infrastructure, excessive legal charges and multiple taxes.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman, MAN, Ikeja Branch, Mr. Isaac Agoye, said the meeting was meant to examine the activities of BoI.
He said, “Members of MAN have persistently raised eyebrows and may be due to lack of understanding of the burdensome and imaginable surcharges on BoI loan disbursement.
“We believe that if manufacturing is made easy and less cumbersome by way of accessibility to loans, manufacturers will obviously be encouraged and this can act as a stop-gap measure for mitigating the high rate of unemployment.”
The bank has also expressed its determination to provide funding support to Nigerians in the Diaspora to invest in the manufacturing sector of the economy.
The Principal Manager, Strategic Planning, BoI, Mrs. Betty Obaseki, said this during a capacity building workshop for Diaspora Nigerians operating in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sub-sector in Abuja on Thursday.
She said the bank was already considering setting up a special desk in Lagos and Abuja to attend to the investment needs of Nigerians in the Diaspora.
This, she noted, would enable them invest in the key sectors of the economy, especially in areas where the country had comparative advantage.
Obaseki said, “One way to ensure the growth and development of African and Nigerian economy is that we need to know the area where we have comparative advantage in transforming our raw materials to finished products
“The best way to grow the economy is to ensure that entrepreneurs transform raw materials to finished products
“This is what we try to encourage in the Bank of Industry; we are looking for Nigerians we don’t want to fund foreigners, though that does not rule out the funding of foreign companies, but such companies must have up to a minimum of 30 to 40 per cent Nigeria ownership before they can access the fund.
“We are happy to be here to partner with you; you don’t need to know anybody before getting the loan.”
She said the bank had dedicated 25 per cent of its loan portfolio to the development of SMEs, adding that it had shifted focus from funding large entrepreneur to small and medium entrepreneurs.
Obaseki said, “We have dedicated the 25 per cent of bankable resource loan to the development of SMEs as the opposite used to be before.
“We have different programmes toward this and we are collaborating with different states to help them based on the counterpart funding programme. We use the money to support the entrepreneurs residing in the states.
“We don’t give out money but we fund businesses by providing machinery. If you are coming to us, we will fund your equipment or machinery need; and if you have working capital need, you will approach the commercial banks to support you in that regard.”