The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Industry (BOI), Dr. Olasupo Olusi, has said the N75 billion facility to support 75,000 Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) at single digit interest rate has been exhausted and finished disbursing, the New Telegraph has learnt.
The facility was provided by the Federal Government. Specifically, he disclosed this in an interview in Lagos that that BOI did a thorough job during the disbursement to the targeted MSMEs to ensure that President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope for the country’s manufacturing sector is achieved and sustained.
Olusi said: “I also want to say that, as you can see, the Federal Government continues to make a difference in the manufacturing sector. The N75 billion that was provided through a very strong support of His Excellency, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already been exhausted, by the way, because of the interests and the commitment that BoI put in.”
According to him, BOI is really committed to the growth and development of the country’s manufacturing sector especially in the area of finance to attain innovation and industrialization in Nigeria. He explained that the nation could not achieve much in terms of progress if it does not improve on the value addition within its manufacturing sector, because this is what will drive sustainable exports, growth, job creation and overall economic development.
To him, the DFI bank understood the critical needs of MSMEs towards solving some of the critical challenges that lay across the value chain of their sector, such as skills, research and innovation. In particular, Olusi noted that BOI in conjunction with Raw Materials Development Council (RMRDC) was working to set up an innovation fund strictly to help drive and commercialize new production, new ideas that have been put together by people, especially by scientists in particular.
He stated: “Let me re-echo that the nation cannot achieve much in terms of developmental progress if it does not improve on the value addition within its manufacturing sector, because this is what will drive sustainable exports, growth, job creation and overall economic development.
“At the Bank of Industry, we understand this principle very much, and we are positioning ourselves to help resolve some of the critical challenges that lay across the value chain of that the sector, which some of them have been identified, the skills, research and innovation and of course, ultimately, Finance.
Olusi continued: “Our mandate, as you all know, is to focus on financing. And this is in this, again, this period, I will keep my own intervention short and focused on what the Bank of Industry is really doing to cushion and help boost the drive for manufacturing progress in our economy.
First thing, we’ve all heard that innovation is very, very important in driving sustainable manufacturing sector in the country.” Speaking further, the BOI boss added: “I want to reechoed that BOI, in conjunction with several other government agencies, in particular, with Raw Materials Development Council is working to set up an innovation fund strictly to help drive and commercialize new production, new ideas that have been put together by people, especially by scientists in particular, who feel that Nigeria can benefit from the kind of products we are trying to put together.
“We are also set up to create an Impact Fund. That Impact Fund will sustain equity investments, which is really different from the usual debts that BOI gives, but we’ll focus on supporting enterprises at the growth stage, across the whole value chain of manufacturing and other sectors precisely, to help enhance the financial instruments that are available to those that can really make a difference for manufacturing.”
“I want to reiterate again that as a development bank, and one that is really charged to support the manufacturing sector, we will not relent. We will continue to do everything we can within our powers to ensure that we resolve not just the financing and the problems that exist within financing, but the other challenges that exist within the whole ecosystem of manufacturing.”
Already, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) had revealed that the outcome of the N75 billion disbursement to the investors in the manufacturing sector won’t make much impact in catalysing manufacturing businesses in the country.
𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗔𝘀 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽!
