Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Olukayode Pitan
The Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr. Olukayode Pitan has said the $750m loan facility received by the BOI would be disbursed to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises at single digit interest rate.
Pitan in an interview with The Guardian at the AFREXIM Bank Annual Meetings in Abuja, listed some of the banks that provided the fund to include Africa Export-Import Bank, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, and British Arab Commercial Bank Plc, among others
As stated by Pitan, the loan, expected to be paid back between five and seven years would enable the BOI bridge the funding gap for MSMEs, which he estimated to be N700bn. Pitan explained that the loan is the single largest syndicated facility to be received by a development finance institution in Nigeria.
He noted that depending on the exchange rate that is used, between N230bn to N250bn would be made available to businesses to expand.As stated by him, the creative industry, manufacturing and gender based businesses are some of the sectors that would benefit from the loan. He was optimistic that the loan would help reduce the unemployment rate in the country and create wealth for small and medium scale entrepreneurs.