AMCON not out to kill businesses but to support, says Kuru

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) yesterday restated its commitment to support the country’s economy by helping businesses to grow.Its Managing Director, Mr. Ahmed Kuru, stated this at a media parley in Lagos.

Kuru recalled that AMCON was set up during the 2008/2009 global recession to assist businesses in the country cushion the shocks from the recession, a feat, he said, was successful.“The global recession of 2008/2009 informed the setting up of AMCON.

“AMCON has achieved the objective because Nigeria have come out of that recession,” he noted.He added that it was important to explain to the media the objective of AMCON to inform the business community of its critical role in supporting the growth of the economy.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Kuru said some organisations erroneously believe AMCON was out to force them out of business, thus maligning it in the media.He said the task of loan recovery from ailing businesses was huge, adding that it was a burden it was prepared to bear to salvage the economy and support businesses to remain afloat.

“Recovery is a very tedious task. Reluctance on the part of debtors is inhibiting debt recovery,” Kuru said.The AMCON boss acknowledged the key role the judiciary is playing in the adjudication of cases relating to debt recovery, saying the corporation considered going to court to recover loans as the last resorts.

He disclosed that the corporation recovered N644 billion last year, while strengthening the companies it bought into with N324 billion, because many of them were under the weather and some had gone beyond redemption.

Kuru said the challenges in the global and local economy was stifling its efforts at debt recovery, as shown in the depreciation of some stocks exchanged for money and the volatility in the forex market.

Consequently, he said the corporation had to outsource some work to some asset management partners, noting that this would help to manage defaulting companies, thereby creating employment opportunities.To achieve this, Kuru added that AMCON has created a real asset investment programme, adding that it would sell forfeited assets when the economy was favourable.