Waheed Olagunju, MD Bank of Industry

Mr Waheed Olagunju, the Acting Managing Director of Bank of Industry (BoI), on Friday said the bank planned to raise N1 trillion loan facility from within and outside the country.

Olagunju said in a statement in Abuja that the aim of raising the loan was to finance industrial component of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

He said that the bank had been engaged in aggressive fund mobilisation drive to support Federal Government’s ERGP and also to support ventures that would fast track Nigeria’s realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to him, the bank envisaged that enterprises financed by BoI will generate more than five million jobs.

He said that the bank had commenced discussion with the Development Bank of Nigeria and some foreigners as well as multilateral development finance institutions on the loan facility.

Olagunju commended efforts being made by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to make the bank more viable in spite of competing needs and financial constraints.

He said the recapitalisation drive by BOI was necessary to achieve its development agenda and to ensure that MSMEs would account for at least 30 per cent of the bank’s projected risk assets of N1.2 trillion by 2019.

Given a breakdown of the bank’s activities, Olagunju said that the bank as at April 30, 2017, had already exceeded last year’s disbursement to MSME’s by disbursing more than N13 billion “as against last year’s N8 billion which represents 62 per cent increase’’.

Olagunju said that the bank was indeed well positioned to keep intervening in key sectors of the Nigerian economy.

“More than 800 enterprises that could potentially generate over 1,000,000 jobs benefited from the bank’s facilities within the year under review.

“ The quality of the bank’s risk assets improved phenomenally as the ratio of nonperforming loans dropped to 3.72 percent in 2016 from 5.87 percent in 2015.

“During the year under review, the bank recorded unprecedented levels of operating efficiency and actually outperformed some of the nation’s commercial banks.

“While the average number of loans disbursed per market facing staff stood at 5.22, the average staff contribution to profit before tax was N62 million, ” Olagunju,” said.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, was quoted as commending the bank for its achievements during the 2016 financial year.

Enelamah said BoI had gained significant traction in the implementation of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) that was being rolled out in all the 36 states of the federation and Abuja.

“BoI’s support for the Federal Government’s N-Power programme under which jobs are being created for 500,000 youths in agricultural and health sectors as well the teaching profession is another highly commendable manifestation of the bank’s contributions to ongoing efforts at diversifying national economy.

“As the foremost Development Finance Institution in Nigeria with a strong commitment to social responsibility, the BoI has continued to provide strong support for the developmental initiatives of the Federal Government and its agencies.

“Worthy of note is the fact that the bank has been pushing boundaries with regards to consolidating its strategic partnership with state governments and other key institutions in terms of its Matching, Managed and Legacy Fund Initiatives, which provide direct lending and advisory support to address specific needs of key segments and sectors of the economy.

“As we look ahead with great optimism towards the expectation that the national economy will come out of recession in 2017.

“ I have a strong conviction that the bank will continue to leverage its experience and resources to keep making significant positive impact in the society’’, Enelamah said.

(NAN)