BOI’s Disburses Over N1trn to SMEs, Large Enterprises in 6 Years

04 Oct BOI’s Disburses Over N1trn to SMEs, Large Enterprises in 6 Years

The Bank of Industry (BoI) has said that it disbursed over N1trillion to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises in six years.

According to the bank, this was achieved through strong strategic partnerships with various institutions in the state, federal government agencies and private sector organisations.

Speaking at the 37th Omolayole Management Lecture series themed, “African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – Prospects for African Youth Leadership,” organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) , the Managing Director of (BoI), Oluwakayode Pitan said the bank is at the forefront of industrialising the Nigerian economy and would continue to take deliberate steps towards addressing issues related to financing gaps across all business segments.

According to him, in the last three years, over $3 billion has been raised through the international financial market in its objective to continuously improve its capacity to bridge the huge financing gap that exist in Nigeria’s industrial sector.

He added that there is a growing number of start-up businesses in Africa at present, as young people are embracing their entrepreneurial mind-set and technological skills, resulting in the rapid digital transformation of the continent.

He advised that to address this risk and realise the gains expected for a free trade area, there is a need for increased investment in infrastructure in Nigeria, saying that one way to achieve this is through public-private partnerships (PPPs), which should be significantly leveraged towards building sustainable infrastructural facilities across the country, while the Government provides an enabling governance framework.

“The newly established Infrastructure Company (InfraCo) will play a lead role in its implementation,” he added.

He added that despite making up a significant percentage of the continent’s population, the participation of young people in cross-border trade and trade governance matters is still very limited.

He said improving transparency and ease of doing business in Nigeria has a larger implication now that the AfCFTA has taken off, saying that this would enable foreign investors make informed decisions on where to site their manufacturing hubs within African nations that will provide them with more benefits.

“Because there are no restrictions on moving goods across borders, the need to establish a business in a country where it is easier to operate will now be a more desirable factor than the existence of market prospects,” he said.