BoI disburses N969.6bn in 5 years

The Bank of Industry (BoI) has disbursed loans worth N969.7 billion to borrowers in five years to support various businesses.

BoI Deputy Head, Business Development, Mrs Aderonke Akinluyi, disclosed this at a webinar by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday in Lagos.

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Akinluyi said the funds were disbursed between 2015 and 2020 to over three million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and 653 large enterprises.

Mr Obaro Osah, Divisional Head, SME, South, BoI, debunked some perceptions associated with accessing funding from the bank.

”The loan application approval processing timeline for loans below N10 million is four weeks; loans between N10 and N100m is six to eight weeks; and loans above N100m to N500m is eight to10 weeks,” he said.

Mr Femi Shittu, Group Head, Engineering and Technology, BoI, listed the bank’s selected loan products to include agro mechanisation, food and agro commodity processing and commercialisation of solar energy.

“The selected managed intervention funds include the Nigerian Artisanal and Small Scale Miners Finance Support Fund of N2.5bn with a five percent per annum interest rate.

“The Nigerian Content Intervention Fund of 350m dollars to support indigenous oil and gas players is also available,” Shittu said.

Mrs Toki Mabogunje, President, LCCI, said limited access to funding was one of the biggest constraints facing businesses, especially MSMEs.

Mabogunje noted that a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that Nigerian SMEs had a funding gap of about N617bn as of 2019.

“Also, poor credit history such as failure to service previous facilities prevents business owners from accessing another is also a factor. The combination of these factors accounts for the challenges of access to credit by the SMEs.”[NAN]