Buhari Administration has made it clear that the future of Nigeria is going to be driven by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The country needs to build next generation companies that will help provide jobs and opportunities for the citizens. Bank of Industry (BOI) got that memo and seems poised to do what it was set up to do in the first place.
Mr Waheed Olagunju, Acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry says the bank will assist Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with N376 billion (about $1.24 billion) before the end of 2019.
Olagunju spoke in Makurdi while presenting a paper entitled; “Target Financing for SMEs’’ at a management retreat for officers of the ministry and its parastatal agencies.
According to Olagunju, disbursement to SMEs increased from a record of N5.64 billion in 2015 to N8.02 billion as at end of 2016, while for 2019 we are targeting N376 billion.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
If you check the details, he may be bragging here as there is no way he can have that kind of budget. It will be extremely challenging to move from N8 billion in 2016 to N376 billion in 2019. Nigeria does not have that capacity.
But we hope he can prove everyone wrong! Should that be executed, it will be fair to say that Nigeria will return to a golden age of entrepreneurship as funding will be available for companies to expand.