Category: Business

The Bank of Industry (BoI) in conjunction with the Kaduna State government and Kaduna Business School have launched a business development plan in which they seek to create about 20,000 jobs within the initial four years of the programme. Also, 4,500 small business operators are expected to be trained under the new funding arrangement.

The scheme, tagged: ‘Kaduna Start up Entrepreneurship Programme (KADSTEP),’ seeks to improve the capacity of select SME operators in the state who will benefit from the various loan programmes of the development finance institution.

Apart from benefiting from other loan windows of the bank, under KADSTEP programme, successful small business operators would also have the opportunities to leverage on the existing N1 billion matching fund.
Speaking yesterday during the signing of the deal in Kaduna, the Managing Director of BoI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, said the entrepreneurship programme would help to boost economic activities in the state through creation of job opportunities.
He said: “The Kaduna Start up Entrepreneurship Programme (KADSTEP) is a sustainable job creation initiative designed with entrepreneurship as the common denominator. The programme is designed to run for 4 years in the first instance and the overreaching goal is the creation of a minimum 20,000 jobs in the intervention period through the registration and expansion of the capacities of about 3,500-4,500 businesses operating across the 23 local government in the state.”
According to him: “The programme  is targeting the creation of 3,500 new businesses across the 23 local governments, building capacity for entrepreneurial management among the youth, 100 per cent utilization of funds with the BoI, Bank of Agriculture (BoA) Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), creation of a minimum of 20,000 jobs and improving the internally generated in the state.”
In his remarks, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai noted that his government decided to partner with the development finance institution because of his belief that the purpose of government is to create an enabling environment suitable for job creation.

He said: “We have sufficient confidence in our young people, in their the entrepreneurship  spirit, their willingness to take risks and we need to support that by removing any constraint capable of militating against the realization of their potential.
“This is why we came up with this idea. We are grateful to the Bank of Industry for partnering with us to resolve one of the issues that face our entrepreneurs which are finance and financial management.”

BoI, stakeholders seek improved support services to drive growth

If the potential of Nigeria’s youth population is properly harnessed for productivity in the nation’s agribusiness, extractive industries and manufacturing sectors, the sectors can aid the realisation of the nation’s projected growth by 2020, latest Forbes report on entrepreneurship has shown.

Affirming the viability of the sectors as Nigeria’s next growth drivers, stakeholders at the National summit on entrepreneurship and innovation, including the Bank of Industry (BoI), the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, the African Centre for Business Development among others, noted that the sectors need to be stimulated in the right direction for effective results.

Presenting the report, Convener of the summit, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa stated that while entrepreneurship may have been identified as solution to Nigeria’s economic challenges, especially in the area of wealth and job creation, identifying sectors for investment is imperative for growth.

According to him, with agribusiness, natural resources, technology/telecommunications and manufacturing sectors identified as growth drivers within the next five years, there is need for government to create a conducive ecosystem for the survival of enterprises.

Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Rasheed Olaoluwa while advocating promotion of value-addition explained that in the 17th Century, Alexander Hamilton, treasury secretary of the United States of America, proposed value addition and industrialisation to the then president of the country, stressing that it was such an idea that transformed the US.

Olaoluwa wondered why Nigeria would continue to export cocoa beans which could only guarantee 20 per cent of the value of chocolates, stressing that Malaysia could today boast of $40 billion earnings from its exports owing to the fact that most of the goods leaving the country had some measure of value addition.

He said it was important to transit from colonial economy to industrial economy, adding that Nigeria should not be crawling 55 years after Independence.

He said his experience as a lender had shown him that it was wrong for entrepreneurs to go into enterprises without knowing who would buy from them.

“If you do not care about the buyers, then you will end up producing what nobody will buy. Entrepreneurship is not a part-time job. When I receive proposals, I tell them that as long as this person will not be there full time, I will not approve the proposal,” he said.

He encouraged entrepreneurs to submit proposals to BoI, assuring that the bank would consider and process ones that meet the expected standards.

He further said that the bank, understanding that SMEs are not one-size-fits-all, has identified 35 clusters, with the aim of looking at each sector individually and differently.

“We are looking at each cluster, looking at the dynamics of each so as to tailor our support to the needs of every one of them,” he added.

He said after the training of 1000 successful applicants in the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) scheme, the bank saw great ideas of young Nigerians, stressing that it was an indication that the young people were ready to become the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Despite expanding its financing schemes to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector as well as youth empowerment initiatives, the Bank of Industry (BoI) has unveiled plans to enhance its balance sheet as part of efforts to improve its intervention in the real sector.

According to the bank, most of its intervention schemes are being driven through the bank’s shareholders’ funds with efforts to attract funding from diverse sources for a more effective service delivery.

Speaking at the commencement of a capacity training program for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Lagos, BoI’s Managing Director, Rasheed Olaoluwa noted that the bank, as part of its sustainability plan for intervention in different sectors, is exploring funding alternatives apart from its shareholders’ funds.

He said: “We are financing the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) scheme through the shareholders’ funds. We are a Development Finance Institution (DFI) and we need additional funds beyond the shareholders’ funds to enhance our intervention in the real sector. We are enhancing our balance sheet to attract funding for our products, both at the international and local levels”.

On the GET scheme, Olaoluwa noted that the BoI kicked off its the programme campaign to empower and generate young aspiring entrepreneurs to address youth unemployment in the country.

According to him, there is a need to address the capacity gap among budding entrepreneurs and deepen financial inclusion in the country by de-risking the NYSC members to be eligible for small business loans at a single digit interest rate to be provided by BoI to qualified corps members to further address the lingering unemployment challenges.

‎The BOI boss explained that to achieve the objectives of the initiative, the bank carried out a selection and screening process for about 1,000 NYSC members that will participate in the capacity building process through an online business ideas competition in a three day intensive entrepreneurship capacity building programme holding simultaneously in seven centres which includes Katsina, Plateau,Taraba, Osun, Delta, Abia and Lagos on generating a business idea (value proposition), how to run a profitable business (Business Model), basic financial record keeping, business plan preparation and the likes.

In his words: “The funding will be in form of loans to cover the cost of equipment and working capital requirement of the proposed projects. The loan to each beneficiary will be a maximum of N2 million administered at a single digit interest rate of 9 per cent per annum, with tenor ranging between 3 – 5 years.‎”

He said in ensuring sustainability of the businesses that will be supported under the GEF Programme, a support system has been set up to monitor and evaluate the scheme to enable BoI and NYSC to jointly track the business performances of GEF loan beneficiaries.

A mentoring scheme that will ensure that the GEF training facilitators and BOI’s accredited Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) assist the participants in preparing their business plans as well as hand-hold them as they undertake their business ventures. Please rest assured that through the monitory and evaluation framework and feedback process, we shall continue to come up with measures that will ensure the success of the GEF Scheme.

I will like at this point, to congratulate all NYSC members that have decided to take advantage of the opportunity availed by the GEF Scheme through participation in the online business ideas competition that culminated into this workshop. This decision of yours attests to your readiness to embrace entrepreneurship as a ultimate viable alternative to job seeking,” he stressed.
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Also speaking at the event, the Director General, NYSC, Brigadier-General, JB Olawumi, said the GEF training for qualified corps members to develop their skills through entrepreneurship would go a long way of creating wealth and national development for the economy.

The Director General who was represented by the Deputy Director, Skills Acquisition a‎nd Entrepreneurship Development, Ologun Lanre, commended BoI for finding the NYSC a valuable partner in the arduous task of entrenching the culture of self-reliance and socio-economic change in the nation’s teeming unemployed youths.

He said in several determined efforts to establish a rapport with key organisations to fulfil the Skill, Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) mandate, NYSC did not hesitate to extend invitation to many identified stakeholders in entrepreneurship development and industrial growth.

‎The State Coordinator, NYSC Lagos State, Akhanemhe Cyril, said the BoI has taken very concrete steps to ensure that young men and women with viable business ideas have access to loans at a single digit interest rate.
“Overtime, before the intervention of BoI, we have had corps members who because of paucity of fund cannot put their ideas into action. We are very grateful to the BOI for coming to the rescue of these youths.‎ The earlier these youth begin to actualise their ‎dreams, the better. I am sure that when the history of industrialisation of this country will be written, the BOI will not be forgotten. The Corp members must utilise this platform.

A key facilitator of the product programme, Leap Africa, Mrs. Ndifereke Okwuegbunan, said the training will give corps members the opportunity to access loans from the DFI for which most people do not have access.

I advise youth corps members to take full advantage of this opportunity. There is going to be an intensive group work to ensure we carry the corps members along. ‎You are a few out of the lot that has chosen this path. It is a difficult path but you have all taken the first step to actually make it a success. This training is aimed making you a better person with or without the loan. It will help Corp members to run their businesses sustainably and successfully. If you take this loan apply it to your businesses, you will go places and will be celebrated in the future,” she said.

Following the conclusion of the evaluation of entries received from 3,100 members of the National Youth Service Corps in respect of the online Business Ideas Competition organised by the Bank of Industry (BoI) under the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF)Scheme, 1000 youth corps members were shortlisted on the basis of the highest scores recorded during the evaluation.

Specifically, the 1,000 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members whose ideas have been shortlisted under the scheme will participate in a three-day capacity building programme facilitated by BOI scheduled for 18th to 20th November, 2015. Furthermore, medium to long-term loans at single digit interest rates will be provided by BOI after the capacity building programme for qualifying/successful NYSC members that are able to produce bankable business plans that meet the Bank’s Risk Accept Criteria (RAC).

BOI and the NYSC Directorate on the 5th of October launched the N2 billion Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) for youths undergoing the mandatory National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) programme. According to the bank, the Fund, provides a platform for serving NYSC members interested in entrepreneurship to be trained and granted access to finance for actualising their potentially viable business ideas.

On the appraisal methodology, the Bank stated that, “Evaluation of how well the applicants completed the Questionnaire on their understanding of their value proposition, customer segment, risk, competition, among others ranked 40%, while assessment of the applicants’ Business Ideas ranked 60%.

The business ideas proposed by the shortlisted NYSC members are all within the 35 SME clusters that are being accorded priority by the Bank of Industry.
“The list of Top 1,000 applicants consists of 997 applicants that are 2015 NYSC Members Batches “A” & “B” (Batches 15A and 15B), and 3 applicants that are Batch “C” 2014 (Batch 14C) NYSC members. “The list of 997 Batches “A” and “B” NYSC members has been validated by the NYSC Directorate as being authentic, while the 3 Batch 14C NYSC members have been confirmed not to have collected their discharge certificates.

The Bank explained that members of the three batches whose business ideas were screened had to be validated with the NYSC Directorate in view of the fact that their discharge certificate serves part of the collateral requirements for accessing a loan under the GEF Product Program since BOI would have a lien on the discharge certificates of loan beneficiaries under the GEF Scheme while the facilities subsist.

A review of the screening exercise showed that members of the NYSC Batches 15 “A and B” and those that have completed their national service but are yet to collect their discharge certificates under the Batch 14 C were considered for the GEF scheme.
“Out of this list of 1,000 successful applicants, 664 (66%) are Male while 336 (34%) are Female, while geopolitical distribution of the course participants on the basis of primary assignment showed that the North West account for 133, North East, 143; North Central, 147; South East, 137; South South, 141; South West, 144; and Lagos, 155. The training programme will take place simultaneously in NYSC camps located in the following 7 centres: Katsina in Katsina State, Mangu in Plateau State, Jalingo in Taraba State, Issele-Ukwu in Delta State, Ede in Osun State, Umunna in Abia State and Iyana Ipaja in Lagos State.

Nigeria is richly endowed with abundant agricultural products available in every state of the federation. However, limited capacity for processing and preservation, results in huge losses and wastages. In a bid to tackle this problem, BOI is establishing a Cottage Agro-Processors (CAP) Fund to support the establishment of cottage agro processing plants that will produce food products and raw materials for industries within and outside the Staple Crop Processing Zones (SCPZs) across Nigeria.

The fund is targeted at small-and medium-scale industries at the low-technology, labour-intensive end of the spectrum and is expected to finance about 1000 projects at nine percent interest charges, with total management fees of 1%,a tenor of five (5) years with a moratorium of six (6) months. The Fund will also help in creating a total of 20,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Fund will be accessed by Limited Liability Companies, Enterprises and Cooperative Societies engaged in the processing of agricultural products either into finished food products or raw materials for industry or for the export market. The products include; Cassava, Oil Palm, Rice Paddy, Groundnut, Yam, Maize, Sorghum, Aquaculture, Livestock, Cocoa, Shea nut, Plantain, Cashew, Tomato and all their individual derivatives.

WHY APPLY FOR BOI CAP FUND?

• Agriculture is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy
• The sector enjoys the support of the federal government
• Create jobs and ensure wealth distribution
• Single digit interest rate (9%)
• 5 year loan tenor
• 6-month moratorium
• Guaranteed working capital
• Speedy processing

WHO IS THE FUND FOR?

The fund is designed to benefit Limited Liability Companies, enterprises and Cooperative societies engaged in the processing of Agricultural produce into food products and/or raw materials, either for industry use or for export.

CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS FOR BOI LOAN APPLICATION

1. Formal Application
2. Photocopy of Certificate of Registration (Form CAC/BN/A1).
3. Business Plan
4. Valuation report on existing assets prepared by an accredited BOI valuer.
5. Value of equipment to be purchased from a BOI accredited supplier (including invoices).
6. Source(s) and value of raw materials to be purchased expressed in units.
7. Two (2) passport photographs of the Promoter (business owner)
8. Photocopy of the Current Tax Clearance Certificate of the Proprietor.
9. Means of Identification (i.e. International Passport or Driver’s License or National Identity Card) of the Proprietor.
10. Bank Statement of the Business Enterprise for six (6) months.
11. Declaration of Outstanding Liabilities to other Banks and Individuals.
12. Reference letter from a recognized traditional ruler or authorized Local Government Official.
13. Provision of a minimum of two (2) External Guarantors to guarantee the loan. The Guarantors must belong to any of the following categories:
    1. Senior Civil Servant (not below the rank of Assistant Director).
    2. Bankers (not below the level of Branch Manager), with minimum of 5 years in service with the Bank (current employer).
    3. Lawyers (SAN).

APPLYING FOR CAP FUND:

The Bank of industry (BOI), understanding the need for entrepreneurship know-how for the agropreneurs mandates that all applicants to the CAP fund must undergo entrepreneurial training at any of the existing accredited Business Development Service Providers (BDSP) and apply through this Organisations who have been well briefed on all BOI requirements in order increases your chances and speed up the application process.

The Bank of Industry (BOI) has secured a $100 million line of credit from the African Development Bank (AFDB) to actualise its development financing objectives and intervention, especially for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

According to the bank, the line of credit, which is designed for on-lending to SMEs engaged in export-oriented businesses, is the first of such foreign facility accessed by BOI after its reconstruction in 2001 out of the defunct Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB).

The bank, in a statement at the weekend, explained that already, the first tranche of $50 million was recently disbursed to BOI from AFDB for on-lending to small businesses engaged in export-oriented businesses with capacity to generate foreign exchange.

BOI added that the credit approval was received as a result of the implementation of various strategies and plans which have enhanced its operations and re-positioned it to better tackle the current challenges of Nigerian small businesses.

“In order to deepen the impact of the facility, BOI hired an international firm, Messrs. BDO/GBRW, based on African Development Bank’s quality selection procedure, to render capacity building services to BOI staff and the prospective SME customers.

“The capacity building services would enhance the business capabilities of the SME customers thereby enabling them to better manage their businesses and mitigate risks. The capacity building would also strengthen the ability of staff members to manage small business loans and the related risk management issues.

“BOI wishes to acknowledge the support of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) among other stakeholders for facilitating access to the Line of Credit”, the statement read in part.

The bank however urged prospective entrepreneurs engaged in export-oriented businesses with potential to earn foreign exchange to submit their applications to facilitate access to the facility.

It could be recalled that the bank had within the last one year, embarked on various reforms while unveiling innovative products to address financing gaps in the real sector, with emphasis on small businesses.

The Bank of Industry, BOI has said though the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs are backbone to development of many nations funding has remained a challenge to that sub-sector.

The BOI noted that poor business plans have continued to make banks reluctant to give credit SMEs.

The banks managing director, Rasheed Olaoluwa who spoke at the conference of Finance Correspondents of Nigeria, FICAN in Lagos at the weekend also noted that absence of bankable Business Plans and lack of clear Business Models are major challenges hindering credits to SMEs.

Olaoluwa further said that information asymmetry arising from SMEs’ lack of accounting records makes it difficult for creditors and investors to assess the creditworthiness of potential SME proposals.

He observed that finance has been identified in many business surveys as a critical factor for the survival and growth of SMEs in both developing and developed countries.

“Access to finance allows SMEs to undertake productive investments to expand their businesses and to acquire the latest technologies, thus ensuring their competitiveness and that of the nation as a whole.

Poorly functioning financial systems can seriously undermine the macroeconomic fundamentals of a country, resulting in lower growth in income and employment” he added.

The MD noted that despite their dominant numbers and importance in job creation, SMEs traditionally have faced difficulty in obtaining formal credit or equity.

He said “For example, maturities of commercial bank loans extended to SMEs are often limited to a period far too short to pay off any sizeable investment.

This is due to the short term nature of their funds, with the attendant mismatch if granted as long-term facilities to SMEs.

Meanwhile, the tendency is for access to competitive interest rates to be reserved only for prime customers, while loan interest rates offered to SMEs remain high”.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, with agricultural produce abounding in every state of the federation, but with limited capacity for processing and preservation, resulting in huge losses and wastages. This prompted the Bank of Industry (B0I) to establish the Cottage Agro-Processing (CAP) Fund to support the establishment of cottage agro-processing plants to produce food products and raw materials for industries within and outside the Staple Crop Processing Zones (SCPZs) Bio agric processing fund

The Fund ensures that anticipated risks are dimensioned and mitigated by its transaction structure. It enhances goodwill by supporting agricultural production and rural development and create employment.

Objective

Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, Managing Director of BOI, said at the launching of the N5 billion CAP Fund in September 2014 that the bank plans to finance about 1,000 projects under this fund. “It is targeted at Small and Medium Industries at the low-technology, labour intensive end of the agro-processing spectrum.

And inclusive growth is our primary consideration. The fund is designed to enable BoI, being Nigeria’s leading development finance institution, play its catalytic role of paving the way for other financial institutions to follow,” he said.

Olaoluwa added that the the fund will provide loans to beneficiaries to establish small-scale plants or mini mills to process Nigeria’s agricultural products. His words: “The Cottage Agro Processing (CAP) fund will provide loans to beneficiaries to establish small scale plants or mini mills to process Nigeria’ s agricultural products such as cassava , oil palm, paddy rice, groundnut, yam, maize, cocoa, sheanut ,plantain, cashew, hides and skin, meat, chicken and fish. These products are grown all over the country and have been selected to ensure an even distribution across Nigeria’s 36 states.”

Target market

Those that can access the Fund are limited liability companies, enterprises and cooperative societies engaged in the processing of agricultural products either into finished food products or raw materials for industry or for the export market. The products include: Cassava, Oil Palm, Rice Paddy, Groundnut, Yam, Maize, Sorghum, Aquaculture, Livestock, Cocoa, Shea nut, Plantain, Cashew, Tomato and all their derivatives.

Projected impact

The fund is being deployed for the supply and installation of equipment for an estimated 1,000 cottage mills across the country, a minimum number of 20-30 mills per state, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Projects are to be located in the areas with comparative advantages in terms of the available agricultural raw materials within each state. This is expected to create a minimum of 20,000 jobs for Nigerians – 5,000 direct and 15,000 indirect jobs.

The CAP fund provides agro-processors with access to finance and technology to convert  agricultural products to economic prosperity. The fund is disbursed at a single digit interest rate (9 percent); 5 year loan tenor; 6-month moratorium; Guaranteed working capital and; Speedy processing.

Procedure

Customers must meet all conditions precedent to draw down, including deposit of 20 per cent equity contribution into designated account. BOI disburses the 70 percent loan in tranches direct to approved contractors and suppliers in line with agreed milestones. Upon completion, MSME-friendly partner bank provides 10 percent working capital. Customer is responsible for running of the plant and full repayment.

Requirements

The first phase of the scheme is to facilitate the processing of the top three (3) major crops in each state of the federation and the FCT. BOI Zonal Offices will market the product program as well as focus on agricultural products and their derivatives on the basis of comparative advantages and in alignment with the SCPZ nearest to them. The Zonal Offices will also identify the producers of each of derivative items within their jurisdiction in building effective deal flow.

Access to market

As part of the requirements, each applicant is to provide the following: Identification of the basic agricultural raw material(s) to be used, the location where the raw materials will be sourced from and the annual volume available in that location.

Parties to the Fund

BOI – To provides the long-term loan and manage the scheme. Where it becomes absolutely necessary for BOI to provide working capital, it shall be done on case-by-case basis and the partnering commercial bank shall be carried along. Partnering bank – To provide working capital for the customer.  The partnering bank shall sign a Tripartite Agreement with BOI and the customer to sweep loan repayments to BOI’s account based on the Loan Amortisation Schedule.

Customer – To provide 20 percent equity contribution, operate and manage the project from the point of disbursement through operation of the plant and ultimate repayment of the loan. Accredited supplier – To be responsible for the supply, installation and commissioning of the equipment. The supplier is to provide a 2-year warranty for the equipment, execute a 3-year Equipment Maintenance Agreement with the customer and provide a standard factory layout plan that will accommodate the equipment to be supplied

Stakeholders in Ikorodu commercial and industrial sector, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises, are set to benefit from funding opportunities provided by the Bank of Industry. According to a statement from the Ikorodu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the opportunities are to be unveiled at the 7th Business Luncheon of the ICCI.

The statement added that the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, who is the guest speaker, will address the role of BoI in the development of Nigeria’s industrial sector with emphasis on the current dispensation. It quoted the President of the Chamber, Prince Jamiu Saka, as saying that the Nigerian business terrain expected positive change in the country’s economy.

He said, “At the forum, the Bank of Industry will apprise entrepreneurs of the window of funding opportunities that are available in the current dispensation, especially to our members.
”The Business Luncheon of Ikorodu Chamber of Commerce and Industry is held quarterly to discuss problems facing SMEs and generate ideas that could promote their growth in various business areas.

The Chamber was incorporated in 2011.

The Bank of Industry (BoI) has partnered Grow Africa Equity Partners Limited to raise a $60 million Venture Capital Fund for small businesses, as part of its innovative financing scheme and efforts to expand intervention in the industrial sector from loan disbursements. Under the arrangement, the bank has made an investment commitment of $6 million to aid provision of equity capital for fast growing businesses.

Indeed, the Venture Capital Fund aims to provide equity capital, along with strategic and operational support to early stage and fast growing businesses involved in technology, agriculture, consumer goods and services sectors. BoI’s Managing Director, Rasheed Olaoluwa in a statement at the weekend, said: “Nigerian businesses cannot be built on debt alone. It has long been part of the bank’s vision to find ways to provide sorely needed equity capital and business advice to promising Nigerian businesses. “Our partnership with Grow Africa is one of the avenues for realising this vision and we remain committed to the pursuit of our core mandate of providing long-term financial support to small, medium and large companies/projects in Nigeria’s key sectors.”

Olaoluwa added that the investment commitment was informed by the track record of Grow Africa’s partners, the developmental impact of their existing portfolio and their strong pipeline for potential new investments. The Chairman of Grow Africa Equity Partners, Adedotun Sulaiman, noted that with the right type of support, Nigerian businesses could become global leaders. Sulaiman, who also chairs the Boards of Interswitch, SecureID, IDEA, New Horizons and others, said: “Over the past 10 years, I have provided capital and advice that have helped several businesses grow from ideas into multi-billion naira industrial leaders. “Through this partnership, I hope to see many more entrepreneurs realise their dreams of creating leading companies and delivering massive value to Nigeria.”

The Managing Director of the company, Afam Edozie, added: “We are extremely pleased with this partnership with BoI, and this is a strong signal of the bank’s commitment to supporting indigenous Fund Managers to catalyse growth and sustainable development in Nigeria. “This new investment will increase development impact and socio-economic benefits through the creation of additional jobs, development of local entrepreneurship and will create additional fiscal revenue to Government. “The Bank of Industry has demonstrated that they share our dedication and passion in helping to build world class industries in Nigeria”. The Bank of Industry is Nigeria’s leading industrial development financing company, with a loan portfolio of N592 billion to projects in Nigeria’s real sectors- agro-processing, solid minerals, gas and petrochemicals, as well as engineering and technology. Similarly, it supports SMEs through a network of 14 offices across Nigeria and 122 business development services providers.

Garment makers in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State have appealed to the Bank of Industry (BOI) to ensure that industry operators’, especially those outside Lagos, benefit from the proposed “N1 billion Fashion Fund” targeted at small and medium enterprises.

The group on the aegis of the Association of Tailors and Fashion Designers (ATFAD), an umbrella body of tailors and fashion designers in Abia, observed that if well implemented that the fund, would boost activities in the sector, create jobs and increase the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.

Onyebuchi Nwaigwe, president AFFAD, commended the BOI for initiating the programme, but expressed doubts over implementation, stressing that similar funds targeted at the MSMEs in the past, often does not get to them.

The  N1 billion Fashion Fund for players at the micro-, small- and medium-scale levels according to Rasheed Olaoluwa, managing director/chief executive officer, BOI,  is in fulfilment of the bank’s commitment to develop special funds and credit products to deepen penetration of and enhance support to specific SME clusters.

The BoI Chief Executive Officer, explained that many Nigerian fashion designers have received training in some of the best fashion schools in the world, and therefore have the intellect, talent, creativity, skills and drive to take Nigeria’s fashion industry to the next level on the global fashion stage.

He said the growth in Nigeria’s urban population, the macro-economic environment, increasing purchasing power of the emerging middle class and a strong appetite for consumer goods are positive factors in favour of a flourishing fashion cluster.

He explained that fashion provides an important opportunity to diversify Nigeria’s economy and create jobs, particularly among the youth, expressing confidence  that the Fund will help to catalyse the fashion cluster, create millions of jobs and also generate foreign exchange earnings for  businesses and economy.

He disclosed that the bank has identified 34 SME clusters nationwide through which it will drive its new SME financing paradigm.

“At the Bank of Industry, we have resolved to strategically approach the issue of SME financing using the cluster approach, which has been successfully implemented in many fast-growing economies in the world. India is a very good example, where hundreds of SME clusters have been identified and developed,” he explained.

He further revealed that in the months ahead, more funds and products would be designed and launched to support the various SME clusters already identified.