Bank of Industry (BoI) has disbursed N19.7 billion to over 3,000 enterprises in the South West region in the past three years from its own funds.
The Ekiti state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi had earlier urged BoI to partner with the state to move farmers from subsistence farming to commercial and agro-processing levels.
Fayemi also called on BoI to explore the knowledge economy, which is one of the pillars of his administration for investment.
The governor stated this during the official opening of the Ekiti branch office of BoI in Ado-Ekiti.
According to the governor, Ekiti has demonstrated its commitment to ease of doing business. It is our vision to make Ekiti a destination of choice for investment by providing an enabling environment to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises(SMEs).
Also, the managing director of BoI who was represented by the executive director, Corporate Services, Jonathan Tobin said, through the bank’s matching fund partnership with Ekiti state, which was signed in March 2010 with a total fund size of N200 million, it has been able to create loans worth N167 million with thousands of direct and indirect jobs created in the process.
He added that, the Theo objective of this initiative is to partner with state governments towards supporting micro, small and medium enterprises in such states, by each party setting aside equal amounts of funds.
To him, “Bank of Industry has a long-standing relationship with Ekiti state, as the state is one of our earliest strategic partners with respect to our matching fund initiative.
“With the fourth quarter of consecutive GDP growth, with Q3 of 2021 recording a growth of 4.03 per cent. Our branch expansion strategy is supported by the fact that entrepreneurship creates employment and income opportunities, and therefore are major drivers of poverty reduction and economic development.”
Also speaking, the minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, said, BoI has done significantly well in supporting the industrialisation strategy of the federal government across various sectors and business segments in Nigeria.
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