Bank of Industry has consolidated its niche as a highly competent National Development Finance Institution with unique hands-on experience in the management of specialised development schemes and funds by co-launching a N2 billion Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Fund with the Government of Kano State. The ceremony which took place recently in Kano brought the volume of MSME Funds being managed on behalf of eighteen state governments to N19.3 billion.

The scheme which is targeted, mainly, at the development of existing and new Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in the state is expected to create new jobs and ultimate wealth.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) , BOI and the Kano State Government resolved to  jointly contribute the sum of N1billion each for on lending to mainly businesses that have high employment generating potentials and value addition to local raw materials.

Speaking on the state’s decision to fund the scheme during the signing of the MOU in Kano, the State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, declared that his government was determined to encourage the promotion of entrepreneurship and the growth of MSMEs especially those engaged in the processing of agricultural and solid mineral resources as well as manufacturing.

He explained that in this vein an Entrepreneurship Standard Committee had been set up to look into all loan applications, adding that the committee had a prominent entrepreneur, Mr. Mohammed Yakasai, as a member, among others.

The Governor assured the bank’s management and citizens of the state that his administration would facilitate loans to entrepreneurs wishing to access such facility in the state especially graduates of the 23 institutes established by the state government to train and sharpen the skills of budding entrepreneurs in various vocations through well structured capacity building programmes.

The Managing Director of BOI, Ms Evelyn Oputu, lauded the resolve of the Kano State Government to make the dream of budding entrepreneurs in the state a reality. She noted with regret the preponderance of moribund factories in the state as against what obtained 30 years ago, and urged the government to do more  in the area of providing infrastructure in the state.

She also called on the governor to provide more land for farmers for the purpose of tomato cultivation, assuring that BOI would help to harness all efforts to ensure that more successes were recorded along the tomato value chain. The BOI CEO stated that the bank was determined to work closely with the 37 newly established micro finance banks in Kano towards supporting MSMEs. She added that the bank was also ready to work with the government and people of Kano State to harness the state’s huge agricultural potentials especially in the area of vegetable and leather production.