The Bank of Industry (BoI) on Tuesday released N3billion to Jaiz Bank Plc for the development and expansion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
The cash is for a target group to be spread among small entrepreneurs around the country and empower small business operators to grow their businesses.
The Executive Director, BoI, Shekarau Omar, said the bank is fully ready to partner with institutions that are ready to support and develop areas that need support.
According to Omar, the N3billion will help businesses grow, do a lot and even come for more if need be.
BoI is already in partnership with 16 different financial institutions and so far has disbursed N3.8billion to these institutions.
He said: “With this N3billion disbursed to Jaiz Bank Plc, and other disbursement done, it has risen to N6billion, we hope to disburse another N5.3billion to them between now and end of this quarter. Soon, BoI disbursement portfolio is expected to move from N6.8billion to about N12 billion at the end of the day”
He said the whole idea is how best BoI serves those that require financial services that are unable to get it as easy as they are supposed to.
“The small scale businesses are the ones that boost the economy; they are the ones that will help the system but unfortunately, they have no means of getting funds and therefore, what we do is that we now work for financial institutions that will help the rich which is not supposed to be,” he said.
He said the meeting with Jaiz Bank is a confirmation of what BoI is used to because, it considers which financial institution that is ready to help without thinking of how much interest it is looking at.
He encouraged Jaiz Bank Plc to come forward for another tranche of disbursement as soon as it succeeds in properly managing the N3billion.
Responding, the Managing Director, Jaiz Bank Plc, Hassan Usman assured that the fund will be disbursed to targeted beneficiaries. He said the fundamental reason for the creation of Jaiz Bank is to create wealth through the MSMEs.
He said pilot programmes were already ongoing with financial inclusion drive. “We are also going to use agency banking to reach those in the rural areas where we cannot be physically present. Women are one of our major priorities which we have decided to provide financing for,” he said.