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BoI disburses N450m micro credit loans to 7000 MSMEs in Ogun

By Femi Adekoya
16 August 2017   |   4:08 am
Micro credit disbursement by the Bank of Industry (BOI) under the Federal Government’s Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) in Ogun State has hit over N450 million.

Bank of Industry, Headquaters, Abuja

Micro credit disbursement by the Bank of Industry (BOI) under the Federal Government’s Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) in Ogun State has hit over N450 million.

According to the Development Finance Institution (DFI), over 7000 beneficiaries across 130 associations have so far accessed the marketmoni loans ‎in the State.

The Governor, Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, during BoI’s presentation of loan certificates to beneficiaries under GEEP in Ogun State tagged “Marketmoni alert train don land”, said Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are major catalysts for economic growth and development of big industries, but stressed that MSMEs in the country have not been able to reach their potential due to lack of access to funds.

“Majority of the industry players in this sub-sector could hardly meet up with the stringent conditions attached to accessing funds from our conventional commercial banks. This is why the federal government has to come up with different interventions such as BOI and other specialised funding institutions,” he said.

He said GEEP is a welcome development in the State, adding that it would help to support and accelerate micro business activities and would impact positively on the economic activities of the nation’s informal sectors which are the bedrock of an economy.

He said the beauty of the marketmoni programme is that it relieves the burden on the beneficiaries and also enables entrepreneurs to focus their energies on business growth.

He urged beneficiaries of the loan to be judicious in the use of the facility and also endeavour to pay back as it enables the programmes to remain sustainable and stimulate the economic activities at the base of pyramid.

“Marketmoni is targeted to several millions of Nigerians, therefore only our positive attitude will make it work. Let us take the advantage of this affordable finance ‎to grow our business, to break poverty barriers and push the frontiers of inclusive growth and financial advancement,” he said.

Earlier, the Managing Director, BOI, Olukayode Pitan, said the objective of the event was to share with association and cooperative leaders the benefits and how to access the loans.

The BOI boss who was represented by the bank’s Executive Director, Micro Enterprise, Mrs. Toyin Adeniji, said ‎,”Today, we will also be issuing credit alerts and loan certificates to members of cooperatives who have successfully met the eligibility criteria for the marketmoni loans,” she added.

She said statistics show that over 80 per cent of micro enterprises lack access to affordable credit which she said is a major barrier to business growth, adding that even when loans are available, they come at very high cost to the borrower.

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