Category: News

The Bank of Industry (BOI) has partnered with Iwo community of Osun State to promote use of local fabric in fashion lines.

The Acting Managing Director of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr. Waheed Olagunju, who was invited to Iwo by the Oluwo of Iwo said that the Bank Of Industry Limited is ready to assist the fabric makers to expand their business and improve the quality to meet export standard.While inspecting the garments from local fabrics of aso oke and adire, he noted that the over dependence on foreign goods can only be remedied when Nigerians start patronizing locally made goods.

While inspecting the garments from local fabrics of Aso Oke and adire, he noted that theover-dependence on foreign goods can only be remedied when Nigerians start patronizing locally made goods.

The inspection took place at the palace of the Oluwo Of Iwo, Oba Abdul Rasheed Akanbi, Ilufemiloye, Telu 1 in Iwo Local Government of Osun State.

He gave the assurance that he would sign a Memorandum of Understanding that would ensure that all those involved in the value chain are considered to enhance their capacity.

The MoU would also seek to help them add better value to their fabrics in order to make the product a good source of foreign exchange for the country.

The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Akanbi, also stated his reason for inviting BOI officials to the town.

He said that he embarked on a campaign to shift attention to usage of local fabrics for western designs to empower those involved in the business and to export Yoruba culture to the outside world.

He explained that the fabric is good enough to be used as uniforms for security agents, uniform for school children among others.

He also disclosed that through his efforts, a bill at the Osun State House of Assembly that makes locally produced adire the uniform for pilgrims from the state to Hajj has been passed.

The monarch urged President Buhari to support the initiative as part of efforts to revive Nigeria’s ailing economy.

Young entrepreneurs in Nigeria looking to make a difference in society by creating sustainable value offerings can learn a thing or two from Chief Mike Adenuga. Bank Of Industry Limited’s Acting Managing Director, Mr. Waheed Olagunju has said.

The acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Mr. Waheed Olagunju in a remark during the presentation of cheques to the first set of winners in the on-going Glo Hamma Millions Promo on Tuesday, thanked Globacom Chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr, for building a world class telecoms company like Globacom which he noted could compete with any telecoms company in the world.

According to him, Chief Adenuga is ”one person who connects with people at the bottom pyramid and that is why we are here to identify with this and to re-affirm our bank’s readiness to partner with global communications limited. Those of you who won 100k that could be the beginning of your journey to becoming a Mike Adenuga of tomorrow. We at BOI are available to support you and hold your hand. We have our consultants and experts who will advise you on the type of business you can go into in your immediate environment.”

He reiterated that the Bank remains committed to the pursuit of its mandate of catalyzing the entrepreneurial and industrial development of Nigeria, as well as supporting job and wealth creation initiatives across the country.

Other dignitaries at the event included the Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni; Lagos State Coordinator of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Fidelis Ajibogun and the Zonal Coordinator, Lagos Office, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),Ikechukwu Aninweke.

Nigeria’s main financial development institution, the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Abia state government have inked an agreement under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pump N1 billion into the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector of the state.

The fund as well as capacity building for effective deployment, will be made available to deserving entrepreneurs in the state to further boost their value addition processes, expand their production capacities and make more jobs available for the unemployed.

Speaking during the MoU signing ceremony at the Government House Umuahia, Ag. MD and CEO of BoI, Mr Waheed Olagunju explained that the N1billion SME development fund is to be equally contributed by the bank and the state for onward lending to yearning entrepreneurs in the state, particularly those who are engaged in value addition and processing.

“What we are trying to do now is to accentuate the industrialisation of Abia State particularly in the SME sector vertically and horizontally, to increase the level of entrepreneurship in the state with its attendant multiplier effects.

“We need to add value to our products rather than exporting them in their crude form to countries where they are processed and sent back to us with more value and we pay heavily for that and the per capita incomes of those countries get much higher than we have here, and the quality of life and living standards are also much higher than we have here.

According to Olagunju what separates the rich and the poor countries of the world are the level of industrialisation, as it is not by accident that rich countries are described as industrialised nations of the world and the poor countries as less industrialised.

“By our estimation in the Bank of Industry, through every N1billion we lend, we are able to generate close to 10,000 jobs. And as resources permit we can also increase the pool of funds, this is just a framework that we intend to start with,” he added.

Olagunju noted that with the right capacity building, prospective beneficiaries stood a better chance of making the best use of the assistance given to them, which will enhance their potential and also enable them to honour their repayment obligations.

He announced that the bank was aiming to open a branch office in Umuahia, to enable it to bring more of its products and services closer to entrepreneurs in Abia state.

In his remarks the Abia state Chief Executive, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu while appreciating the federal government’s renewed effort in trying to pick up the bits and pieces of the Nigerian economy through other vital sectors apart from oil stressed that “this is the time to seize the opportunities that are available to us.”

He said his government is resting on five pillars of development and first of these five pillars is the development of small and medium scale enterprises, having identified from inception that Asians were very resilient, tough and ingenious entrepreneurs.

“We also discovered a cultural hedge in the way our people do business which has prevented them from competing globally and that is the non-automation of production processes. With automated production lines we can be sure of the consistent quality, time of delivery and consistency in design.

“We want to see how we can intervene by assisting them in procuring needed equipment, training and re-training and also help them in accessing markets and gaining exposure beyond Nigeria.

“I want to assure you that every person that will benefit from the facility will give a good account of it and will be willing to pay back. The orientation is that this is the time to move forward and the economy of the nation and our state depends on their ability to seize this moment and run with it.

“I want to assure the Bank of Industry that our government will cooperate with you, do everything possible to see that you succeed in setting up an office here in the state.

“I’m one of the few that believes that Nigeria will rise from this low ebb and become stronger, become better, such that we can tell the story of what happened as the nudge we needed to rise from our slumber.

Governor Ikpeazu noted that time has also come for Nigerians to take pride in what they produce because – “anything that is good enough for Nigerians should also be good for citizens of other countries.

“The greatest enemy of made in Nigeria products are Nigerians themselves and we need to change our orientation and discipline our appetite for foreign products. This is the time to tell the world who we are from our own perspective.”

The acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Waheed Olagunju has disclosed that a total sum of N83.5 billion was disbursed to 776 enterprises by the development finance institution in 2015.

He said the interventions further helped to create over 400,000 jobs for Nigerians.

Speaking in Abuja at the bank’s 56th annual general meeting (AGM), he said in spite of the challenging global economy and the 2015 election anxiety with its attendant implication for the business environment, the bank still recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N44.7 billion, which represented a 761 percent increase from N5.2 billion in 2014.

The bank’s financial statement for the period also showed it grew operating income by 161 percent to N70.7 billion from N27.1 billion while net loans grew by N1.7 billion to N572 billion within the period in review.

He said the bank will seek to further deepen its developmental impact in both core emerging sectors, drive service delivery excellence, and support the development to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country by leveraging strategic partnership, effectively managing enterprise risks as well as leveraging technology.

Olagunju said also disclosed that a total sum of N95 billion had so far been approved for disbursement to over 400 enterprises as at June this year.

He added that bank was working assiduously to approving more loans in the second half of 2016 to meet institution’s disbursement target of N212 billion which could potentially creation up to 1 million jobs in addition to the 1.6 million projected under GEEP.

He said by a projection of 2.6 million jobs per annum BOI’s interventions could generate more than 10 million jobs over the next four years to reduce unemployment to a single digit.

Meanwhile, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, commended the bank for posting a sustained “impressive financial performance” since its inception 15 years ago.

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The minister said he was also excited that BoI had started implementing the N140 billion Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) which is an aspect of the Federal Government’s N500 billion Social Intervention Package shortly after the 2016 budget was signed into law.

Under GEEP, the development finance bank was chosen by the federal government, given it antecedent, to identify and disburse soft loans to 1.6 million beneficiaries nationwide, mainly market women, youths, artisans, and farmers.

He said BoI had brace up to the increasing responsibilities that were being assigned to fulfill the country’s economic development process, particularly in the implementation of the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) and the Government’s Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

Speaking at the AGM, the minister further extolled the efforts of management and staff for their commitment to taking the institution to greater heights, by embracing its core values and assiduously pursuing the bank’s vision, mission, and mandate.

He, however, charged the bank to intensify efforts at mobilising suitable financial and nonfinancial resources from within and outside the country for the transformation of Nigeria’s industrial sector in accordance with the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP).

Specifically, he challenges the bank on processing and adding value to the country’s vast agricultural, solid minerals and petroleum resources among other areas of resource endowments and comparative advantage.

He assured the bank that his ministry would continue to support its arduous task of transforming Nigeria’s industrial sector in the best interest of present and future generations.

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.